Overview:
This page will focus on the topic of efficiency:
Efficiency- is a measure of how much work or energy is conserved in a process. In many processes, work or energy is lost, for example as waste heat or vibration. The efficiency is the energy output, divided by the energy input, and expressed as a percentage. A perfect process would have an efficiency of 100%.
Efficiency
No process transfers 100% of its energy (unless its to heat).
We can define the efficiency of a process as
total input work total power input
Expressed as a %, efficiency = useful output x 100 %
total input
Example
100 J of electrical energy is supplied to a 100 W light bulb every second. Of this, only 10 J is transferred to the surroundings as light energy. The rest, is transferred to the surroundings as heat energy. Calculate the efficiency of the light bulb.
total input work total power input
100 J
NB: A 100% efficient light bulb would convert all the electricity to light and not produce any heat at all