Question

as energy us transfered or conserved some of that energy becomes unavailable to do work. what happens to this unavailable energy

Answer 1

When energy is transferred or transformed in a system, some of that energy often becomes "unavailable" for doing work due to the second law of thermodynamics. This usually occurs through processes such as heat loss, friction, or dissipation in various forms. The unavailable energy typically disperses into the environment in the form of heat or random molecular motion, thereby increasing the overall entropy of the system.

In practical terms, when energy is converted from one form to another (for example, from potential energy to kinetic energy), some of the energy may convert to thermal energy, which is often not harnessed for useful work. This lost energy generally spreads out and becomes less organized, making it difficult to convert back into a useful form.

Thus, while energy is conserved in total (according to the first law of thermodynamics), the quality of that energy—and its capacity to do useful work—degrades over time due to these transformations and dispersions. The "unavailable" energy contributes to the overall entropy of the system, indicating that energy transformations are not 100% efficient.