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Energy

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In physics, energy (from the Greek ἐνέργεια - energeia, "activity, operation", from ἐνεργός - energos, "active, working") is a scalar physical quantity that describes the amount of work that can be performed by a force, an attribute of objects and systems that is subject to a conservation law. Different forms of energy include kinetic, potential, thermal, gravitational, sound, light, elastic, and electromagnetic energy. The forms of energy are often named after a related force.

Any form of energy can be transformed into another form, but the total energy always remains the same. This principle, the conservation of energy, was first postulated in the early 19th century, and applies to any isolated system. According to Noether's theorem, the conservation of energy is a consequence of the fact that the laws of physics do not change over time.

Although the total energy of a system does not change with time, its value may depend on the frame of reference. For example, a seated passenger in a moving airplane has zero kinetic energy relative to the airplane, but non-zero kinetic energy relative to the Earth.

For more information about Energy, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.


News tagged with energy

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Turning heat to electricity

Turning heat to electricity... efficiently

Physics / General Physics

created Nov 18, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (65) | comments 9

(PhysOrg.com) -- In everything from computer processor chips to car engines to electric powerplants, the need to get rid of excess heat creates a major source of inefficiency. But new research points the way ...


Rice physicists find reappearing quantum trios

Rice physicists find reappearing quantum trios

Physics / Quantum Physics

created Dec 11, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (43) | comments 8

Using atoms at temperatures colder than deep space, Rice University physicists have delivered overwhelming proof for a once-scoffed-at theory that's become a hotbed for research some 40 years after it first ...


Is global warming unstoppable?

Space & Earth / Environment

created Nov 23, 2009 | popularity 3.6 / 5 (56) | comments 81

In a provocative new study, a University of Utah scientist argues that rising carbon dioxide emissions - the major cause of global warming - cannot be stabilized unless the world's economy collapses or society builds the ...


Researchers engineer bacteria to turn carbon dioxide into liquid fuel

Researchers engineer bacteria to turn carbon dioxide into liquid fuel

Biology / Biotechnology

created Dec 10, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (43) | comments 25

(PhysOrg.com) -- The genetically modified cyanobacterium consumes carbon dioxide and produces the liquid fuel isobutanol by using energy from sunlight.


Solar power coming to a store near you (AP)

Solar power coming to a store near you

Technology / Energy

created Dec 10, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (31) | comments 28

(AP) -- Solar technology is going where it has never gone before: onto the shelves at retail stores where do-it-yourselfers can now plunk a panel into a shopping cart and bring it home to install.


Large Hadron Collider (LHC)

Large Hadron Collider produces first physics results

Physics / General Physics

created Dec 15, 2009 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (32) | comments 3

(PhysOrg.com) -- The first paper on proton collisions in the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) - designed to provide the highest energy ever explored with particle accelerators - is published online this week ...


Hunt for Higgs boson: Mass of top quark narrows search

Hunt for Higgs boson: Mass of top quark narrows search

Physics / General Physics

created Dec 07, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (29) | comments 29

(PhysOrg.com) -- New high-energy particle research by a team working with data from Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory further heightens the uncertainty about the exact nature of a key theoretical component ...


At Stanford, nanotubes + ink + paper = equal instant battery (w/ Video)

At Stanford, nanotubes + ink + paper = equal instant battery (w/ Video)

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Dec 07, 2009 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (27) | comments 3

(PhysOrg.com) -- Stanford scientists are harnessing nanotechnology to quickly produce ultra-lightweight, bendable batteries and supercapacitors in the form of everyday paper.


Innovation puts next-generation solar cells on the horizon

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Dec 01, 2009 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (30) | comments 12

In a world first, a Monash University-led international research team has developed an innovative way to boost the output of the next generation of solar cells.


LHC sets new world record

Large Hadron Collider sets new power world record

Physics / General Physics

created Nov 30, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (25) | comments 14

(PhysOrg.com) -- CERN's Large Hadron Collider has today become the world's highest energy particle accelerator, having accelerated its twin beams of protons to an energy of 1.18 TeV in the early hours of the ...


Aussie galaxy survey to lead to 'new physics'

Aussie galaxy survey to lead to 'new physics'

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Dec 08, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (23) | comments 7

(PhysOrg.com) -- Australian astronomers have released the first set of data from the first project to look at the effects of "dark energy" halfway back in the Universe's lifetime.


nuclear power plant

Doubts raised on nuclear industry viability

Physics / General Physics

created Nov 19, 2009 | popularity 3.2 / 5 (24) | comments 19

(PhysOrg.com) -- The investment in nuclear power has been growing around the world over the last few years, being viewed as a means for countries to control their energy security, avoid the price fluctuations ...


Physics Model Determines Dynamics of Friends and Enemies

Physics Model Determines Dynamics of Friends and Enemies

Physics / General Physics

created Dec 02, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (16) | comments 6

(PhysOrg.com) -- Sometimes friends can become enemies and enemies become friends, and it’s difficult to understand exactly how or why the changes took place. A new study shows that when the shifting of alliances ...


New techniques make carbon-based integrated circuits more practical

New techniques make carbon-based integrated circuits more practical

Nanotechnology / Nanophysics

created Dec 09, 2009 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (13) | comments 4

(PhysOrg.com) -- Stanford engineers have built what they believe is a chip with the most advanced computing and storage elements made of carbon nanotubes to date by devising a way to root out the stubborn ...


3-D microchips for more powerful and environmentally friendly computers

3-D microchips for more powerful and environmentally friendly computers

Technology / Semiconductors

created Dec 11, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (14) | comments 4

Not so long ago our computers had a single core which had to be boosted for performance - making each machine into a great central heating system. Beyond 85° C, however, electronic components become unstable. ...