What is irreversibility, and how does it affect energy conversion processes?
Irreversibility is a measure of how much of the energy that enters a system is lost as waste heat. Irreversible processes lead to a decrease in the availability of energy, limiting the efficiency of energy conversion processes. Reversible processes, on the other hand, are characterized by zero irreversibility and maximum availability, meaning that all the energy that enters the system can be used to do work.