Final answer:
No, devices with efficiencies less than one do not violate the law of conservation of energy, as this law states that energy cannot be created or destroyed, and these devices merely convert energy into less useful forms.
Step-by-step explanation:
Devices with efficiencies of less than one do not violate the law of conservation of energy. Efficiency in this context refers to the ratio of useful energy output to energy input for any energy conversion process.
According to the first and second laws of thermodynamics, energy cannot be created or destroyed (first law), and the quality of energy decreases as it is transformed (second law). Thus, a device with an efficiency of less than one simply means that not all input energy is converted into the desired form of useful energy; some of it is lost as other forms of energy, typically heat. This does not mean that energy is destroyed; it is still conserved, but it is distributed in less useful forms.