Final answer:
Efficiency is the measure of how well resources are utilized for a goal, while effectiveness relates to the achievement of objectives. The efficiency of energy conversion differs between organisms and machines, and within economics, the production possibilities frontier illustrates productive and allocative efficiency between services like healthcare and education.
Step-by-step explanation:
The difference between efficiency and effectiveness can be understood in terms of goal achievement and resource utilization. Efficiency is a measure of how well resources are used to achieve a goal, focusing on the output to input ratio. In contrast, effectiveness is about achieving objectives and the extent to which desired outcomes are reached.
Efficiency varies depending on the context. For instance, the efficiency of the human body in converting food energy into physical work is different from the efficiency of heat engines, which convert thermal energy into mechanical work. The definition of efficiency in each case relates to the specific type of energy being converted. For the human body, muscular or biochemical efficiency is considered, whereas, for heat engines, thermodynamic efficiency is relevant.
The production possibilities frontier (PPF) can illustrate both productive efficiency, where goods are produced at lowest possible cost, and allocative efficiency, where resources are distributed according to consumer preferences. If a PPF is drawn between healthcare and education, it shows combinations where an economy can allocate its resources efficiently to produce different mixes of the two services.
It is also worth noting that while efficiency is always less than 1, representing the proportion of useful work to energy input, coefficients of performance for some systems can be greater than 1, indicating the ratio of beneficial output over the energy input.