Isn't that where the (actual) speed of sound comes into it? Pressure cannot propagate faster than that, so doing single-state analysis is going to be flawed at very high engine speeds.Tom Booth wrote: ↑Sun Mar 10, 2024 4:29 pm I guess it's all theoretical to a degree, but if going with kinetic theory then each gas atom or molecule is moving independently with a lot of space in between hardly interacting with each other at all. If that is true than the idea that some of the hot gas can exert "pressure" to the colder gas is mythology. The hot gas molecule has to collide with a cold molecule which then collides with the next etc. until finally the last cold molecule next to the piston receives a final weak, diluted bump which knocks it into the piston.
Note that what I mean by actual speed of sound is to acknowledge that the velocity widely known as "Mach 1" is may be higher or lower depending on both density and pressure, which is not just different to "standard" in a Stirling, but also time-variant.