We explain what efficiency is and some of its main features. In addition, the meanings it has in various fields.
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What is efficiency?
The word efficiency comes from the Latin efficientĭa . In general, the concept can be defined as the ability to orient something or someone with the objective of reaching a certain goal with the most rational use of resources.
The concept of efficiency can be extended according to the discipline from which it will be used.
For example, in the economic field, reference is made to the productive sector of a company . It is understood that a productive process is more efficient than another when its economic benefits are superior to others. The way to express efficiency is through economic values and not according to the quantity of items produced. For this, it is necessary to use the least amount of resources and also reduce the costs of its use.
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Efficiency in other areas
When an irrigation system is effective, less water is used.On the other hand, from biology we speak of efficiency as the ratio between the entry and exit of a resource and a product . This term is very dynamic since it results from a comparison . In addition, thanks to new technologies, the current parameters can be very different from those of only a few decades. For example, the milk production of cows or chicken eggs is not the same as thirty years ago, they have increased significantly.
In physics , efficiency is understood as the ratio between useful energy and energy invested in a process or machinery . In recent years, environmentalists have turned their attention in this direction to achieve greater energy savings through greater efficiency. It is considered that one of the great factors of pollution is the production of energy for it projects are proposed where there is greater efficiency in three planes, state, industrial and residential energy efficiency.
In the discipline of statistics , the term efficiency is used to refer to the margin of error of a statistic . When deciding what type of statistics will be used for a given study, logically those that are estimated to be smaller than their margin of error will be chosen, in this way the results will have greater agreement with reality .
From medicine, efficiency is understood as the production of services and medical goods that have a lower economic cost , but whose value is socially high, that is, when using it. What is intended is that the investments made have great use and their performance is the best possible.
In agriculture this term is related to the irrigation system . When it is effective, a smaller amount of water is used and it is also taken from the nearest water streams, saving time and avoiding expenses . For this, these sources must be in good condition, that is, they cannot be affected by fertilizers or pesticides . This efficiency allows a greater amount of land to be cultivated and its production is superior.
