Take a moment to review the two laws of thermodynamics. As you may remember, the First Law of Thermodynamics describes the fact that a machine cannot create any more energy than is supplied as fuel. We cannot build a machine that will produce energy greater in amount, whether it be heat, electricity, sound, etc. than the amount of energy that is put in. Neither can we reduce the amount of energy that goes in - all of the energy goes somewhere. Energy cannot be destroyed.
The Second Law of Thermodynamics shows that in dealing with machines and fuel, you will always end up with less energy used as work than you supplied as fuel, because some of the fuel that you put into the machine will be converted into heat instead of work. Machines can never “break even.” The Second Law of Thermodynamics has very important ramifications for our world today because we use more energy on a daily basis than ever before in the history of the earth
Remember: Energy is Never Destroyed
"Wasted" heat energy is not destroyed energy, it is merely energy that has been changed into a form that we cannot recapture for our use. It cannot be reused or recycled. This does not mean it is gone.
We use energy to run our cars, our computers, our hair dryers, our power tools, our businesses, and our air conditioners or heaters. And each time we use one of our machines, some of the fuel (electricity or oil or gas) is converted to heat and is not used to do the work that we want the machine to do! Developing more efficient machines should be one of the highest priorities in research today.
Laws
What is the first law of thermodynamics?
