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Biological thermodynamics (Thermodynamics of biological systems) is a science that explains the nature and general laws of thermodynamic processes occurring in living organisms as nonequilibrium thermodynamic systems that convert the energy of the Sun and food into other types of energy.
This efficiency could have provided an advantage in terms of sustained activity levels, improved foraging, and enhanced muscle function. Endothermic Parental Care Hypothesis : This hypothesis proposes that homeothermy developed as a way to provide consistent and warm internal environments for developing embryos or young offspring.
For a heat engine, thermal efficiency is the ratio of the net work output to the heat input; in the case of a heat pump, thermal efficiency (known as the coefficient of performance or COP) is the ratio of net heat output (for heating), or the net heat removed (for cooling) to the energy input (external work). The efficiency of a heat engine is ...
The efficiency solely depends on the temperature difference between the hot and cold thermal reservoirs. Carnot's theorem states: All irreversible heat engines between two heat reservoirs are less efficient than a Carnot engine operating between the same reservoirs.
Energy conversion efficiency depends on the usefulness of the output. All or part of the heat produced from burning a fuel may become rejected waste heat if, for example, work is the desired output from a thermodynamic cycle. Energy converter is an example of an energy transformation.
Hence, if the body were perfectly insulated, core temperature would continue to increase until lethal core temperatures were achieved. Conversely, we are normally in surroundings that are considerably cooler than the body's core temperature of 37 °C (98.6 °F) creating a gradient for thermal energy flow from the core to the surroundings.
The honey bee, for example, does so by contracting antagonistic flight muscles without moving its wings (see insect thermoregulation). [ 18 ] [ 19 ] [ 20 ] This form of thermogenesis is, however, only efficient above a certain temperature threshold, and below about 9–14 °C (48–57 °F), the honey bee reverts to ectothermy.
Poikilotherm is the opposite of homeotherm – an animal which maintains thermal homeostasis. In principle, the term could be applied to any organism, but it is generally only applied to vertebrate animals. Usually the fluctuations are a consequence of variation in the ambient environmental temperature.