The efficiency of a device is the proportion of input energy that is converted to useful energy.
What is Efficiency?
The efficiency of a device is the proportion of input energy that is converted to useful energy. Efficiency is a measure of how much work or energy is conserved in an energy transfer, work or energy can be lost, for example as wasted heat energy. The efficiency is the useful energy output, divided by the total energy input, and can be given as a decimal always less than 1 or a percentage. No machine is 100% efficient.
Efficiency equation
To calculate Efficiency we use this equation.
$efficiency = {\text{useful energy output} \over\text{total energy input}}$
Efficiency demo
In this tutorial you will learn how to calculate how efficient a device is at transferring energy from one form to another.
Chilled practice question
Calculate the efficiency of a light bulb with a total input energy of 500 J. The bulb emits 200 J of light energy and 300 J of heat energy.
Frozen practice question
A tumble drier is 80% efficient. Its useful energy is 45 KJ what is the total input energy in Joules.
Science in context
The efficiency of a device is the proportion of the total input energy that is converted to useful energy.
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