The Second Law of Thermodynamics states that the efficiency of a heat engine or refrigerator is bounded by the temperature of its surroundings. More specificall...
The Second Law of Thermodynamics states that the efficiency of a heat engine or refrigerator is bounded by the temperature of its surroundings. More specifically, it states that the efficiency is proportional to the difference between the temperature of the source and the sink and inversely proportional to the temperature of the surroundings.
Formally, the Second Law of Thermodynamics states:
η = 1 - Q/W
where:
η is the efficiency of the heat engine or refrigerator as a percentage
Q is the amount of heat energy transferred from the source to the sink
W is the amount of work energy done by the engine or refrigerator
The efficiency of a heat engine is the ratio of the work output to the heat input, while the efficiency of a refrigerator is the ratio of the heat energy removed from the sink to the work input.
Second law is used in various applications, such as optimizing the operation of heat engines and refrigerators, calculating the maximum efficiency of heat engines and refrigerators, and designing systems to achieve high efficiency