CHAPTER 4 – THE ENERGY AND ECOSYSTEMS
The gravitational potential
(PART 2)
Measures of power or force
Despite the fact that energy may manifest itself
in a variety of ways, it can always be quantified
using the same units or ones that are equal. The
SI system, also known as the Système
International d'Unités, is the scientific units
standard that is recognized on a global scale.
The joule is the SI system's designated unit for
measuring energy (J). One joule is the amount
of energy needed to propel one kilogram of
mass by one meter per second per second over
a distance of one meter. This is the definition of
one joule.
One more measure of energy is referred to as a
calorie (sometimes written as cal or gram-
calorie). One calorie is equal to 4.184 joules,
and it is defined as the amount of energy
needed to increase the temperature of 1 gram
of pure water by 1 degree Celsius (more
precisely, from 15 degrees Celsius to 16 degrees
Celsius). One calorie is comparable to 4.184
joules. It is important to keep in mind, however,
that a "Calorie" as defined by a dietician is equal
to 1000 calories (1 Calorie = 1 kcal).
Nevertheless, the amount of energy that is
contained in a variety of food items is now
often presented in kilojoules in nations that use
the SI system of units, such as Canada.
Transformations of the Energy Field
As was said before, the many forms of energy
may each be converted into one another. For
instance, when solar electromagnetic radiation
is received by a substance that is dark, the
radiation is converted into thermal energy, and
the temperature of the body that is receiving
the radiation rises.
energy of water that is held at a height is
changed into the kinetic energy of flowing
water at a waterfall. This kinetic energy of
flowing water may then be captured using
hydroelectric technology in order to spin a
turbine and create electrical energy. In addition,
chlorophyll, a green pigment found in plant
leaves, is capable of absorbing visible
wavelengths of solar radiation. As a result, part
of the energy that is caught is turned into the
chemical potential energy of sugars via the
biochemistry of photosynthesis.
The rules of thermodynamics are a set of
physical principles that dictate how all forms of
energy transformations must behave in order to
be consistent with one another. These are what
are known as universal principles, which means
that they are correct at all times and in all
situations.
The first law that may be derived from
thermodynamics
The following is a concise statement of the first
law of thermodynamics, sometimes referred to
as the law of the conservation of energy: Energy
may go through transitions between its many
states, but it can neither be generated nor
destroyed; as a result, the amount of energy
that exists in the cosmos stays the same. The
result of this rule is that there is always a zero
balance between the amount of energy that is
put into a system, the amount of energy that is
stored within the system, and the amount of
energy that is taken out of the system.
Take for example the scenario of a car traveling
down a highway. The energy input that may be
monitored is the gasoline that is used by the
vehicle. The potential energy of the fuel is
converted into a variety of other forms of
energy, such as the kinetic energy that is
embodied in the forward motion of the vehicle,
the electrical energy that is used to power the
lights and windshield wipers, the heat that is
generated by the friction that occurs between
the vehicle and the atmosphere and the road
surface, as well as the hot exhaust gases
(thermal energy) and unburned fuel (chemical
potential energy) that are vented through the
tailpipe. An accurate measurement of all of
these transformations, in accordance with the
first law of thermodynamics, would reveal that
while the energy of the gasoline was converted
into a variety of other forms, the total amount
of energy was conserved. This would be the
case even though the energy was transferred
from one form to another (it remained
constant).
The second postulate of the system of
thermodynamics
The following is an expression that may be used
to describe the second rule of thermodynamics:
Sole in situations where there is a rise in the
entropy of the cosmos can there be
spontaneous transformations of energy. This is
the only condition necessary for the possibility
of such events. Entropy is a physical property
that is linked to disorder and is connected to
the amount of uncertainty that exists in the
distributions of both matter and energy.
Entropy tends to rise in tandem with an
increase in disorder or unpredictability.
Negative entropy describes a state in which
there is less chaos in the system. Take, for
instance, the case of a balloon that has been
inflated. That balloon may slowly lose its
contents to the surrounding environment due
to the potential energy of the compressed gases
inside it, or it may even rupture as a result of
the pressure. Because both of these processes
would result in an increase in the entropy of the
cosmos, it is possible for either of these
outcomes to take place as a result of random
chance alone. This is due to the fact that the
molecules in compressed gases have a higher
degree of order than those in the environment
as a whole. On the other hand, the
atmosphere's scattered gases could never
reassociate themselves in such a way as to
inflate a balloon by themselves. In order for a
balloon to get inflated, there must first be some
kind of energy expenditure in the form of a
localized application of effort, such as a person
blowing into the balloon. In other words, the
expenditure of energy is required in order to
bring about a regional reduction in the entropy
of a system. It is important to keep in mind,
however, that the expenditure of this amount
of energy results in an increase in the entropy
of the cosmos. For instance, the effort that a
human puts out to inflate a balloon results in
increased respiration, which consumes
biological energy and causes heat to be expelled
into the surrounding environment.
One more illustration involves the planet Earth.
The planet is subjected to constant exposure to
solar radiation, practically all of which consists
of visible and near-infrared wavelengths that
fall somewhere in the vicinity of 0.4 to 2.0
micrometers. A portion of this electromagnetic
energy is absorbed and turned into thermal
energy, which warms the surface as well as the
atmosphere. The planet is able to cool itself off
by releasing electromagnetic energy into outer
space in the form of longer-wave infrared
radiation (with a spectral quality that has a peak
at a wavelength of 10 micrometers), but
ultimately, the energy that was absorbed from
the sun is what causes the planet to lose its
heat. This particular scenario results in relatively
short-wavelength solar radiation ultimately
being transformed into the longer-wavelength
radiation emitted by the Earth. This
transformation is an example of a process that
results in a decrease in the quality of the energy
and an increase in the entropy of the universe.
It is an essential corollary of the second rule of
thermodynamics, sometimes known as a
secondary premise, that energy transitions can
never be totally efficient. This means that part
of the original amount of energy must always
be transformed to heat, which results in a rise
in entropy. This helps to explain why, even
when using the best technology that is currently
available, only about 30% of the potential
energy of gasoline can be converted into the
kinetic energy of a moving automobile, and why
a generating station can only convert about 40%
of the energy that coal or natural gas contain
into electricity. Even when taking place in ideal
conditions with optimal supplies of nutrients,
water, and light, the efficiency of
photosynthesis, the process by which plants
convert visible radiation into biochemical, is still
subject to thermodynamic limits.
Photosynthesis is the process by which plants
convert visible radiation into biochemical.
A cursory examination could lead one to the
conclusion that life in general seems to be in
direct opposition to the second law of
thermodynamics. Plants, for example, are able
to convert relatively basic inorganic molecules
(carbon dioxide and water) into extraordinarily
complicated and energy-dense biochemicals via
the absorption of electromagnetic radiation
with visible wavelengths and the subsequent
usage of this widely distributed kind of energy.
After being ingested, the plant biomass may
then potentially be used by animals and
bacteria to produce their own unique complex
biochemicals. Because relatively dispersed
electromagnetic energy and simple inorganic
compounds are being converted into the
complex and highly ordered biochemicals of
organisms, these various bio-syntheses
represent energy transformations that greatly
decrease local entropy. This is because the
biochemicals of organisms are becoming more
ordered and complex. Does the second rule of
thermodynamics become broken in the process
of these biological transformations?
This apparent paradox of life can be explained
by the following line of reasoning: the localized
bio-concentration of negative entropy is only
possible because the system (ultimately
referring to the biosphere, or all life on Earth)
receives a constant input of energy in the form
of solar radiation. This ensures that the entropy
of the system remains relatively constant. If for
some reason this external supply of energy
were to be cut off, then all of the creatures and
organic materials would spontaneously
deteriorate, releasing simple inorganic
molecules and heat and increasing the entropy
of the universe in the process. As a result, life
and ecosystems are unable to endure in the
absence of consistent inputs of solar energy,
which are essential for the organization and
preservation of their negative entropy. In this
way, the biosphere may be thought of as
representing a "island" of negative entropy. This
"island" is extremely confined in both space and
time, and it is continually fueled by the Sun as
an external source of energy.
The Earth as a System for the Flowing-Through
of Energy
By a wide margin, the most important source of
energy that sustains ecosystems is the
electromagnetic radiation that is released by
the sun. Solar energy is responsible for
practically all of the earth's ecological
production, including the heating of the globe,
the circulation of its atmosphere and seas, the surface of the earth. Although this represents a
evaporation of its water, and so on. All of the trivial component of the planet's energy budget,
solar energy that Earth takes in eventually gets it is extremely important qualitatively because
sent back into space in the form of this biologically absorbed and fixed energy is
electromagnetic radiation with a longer the foundation of ecological productivity.
wavelength than what was first taken in by the Although this represents a trivial component of
planet. This happens at some point in time. In the planet's energy budget, it is extremely
other words, the Earth is a flow-through system, important qualitatively. However, in the long
meaning that there is a perfect equilibrium run and in the end, the solar energy that is
between the solar energy that is absorbed and stored in plants and algae is ultimately released
the solar energy that is re-radiated, and there is back into the environment in the form of heat
no net storage of energy over the longer term. and is finally radiated out into space. This lends
credence to the theory that the Earth is an
energy flow-through system that maintains an
In addition, the production of simple organic ideal equilibrium between the energy it takes in
compounds (like sugars) from inorganic and the energy it gives out.
molecules is dependent on the sun's radiation
in almost every environment, which serves as
the source of energy that photosynthetic
organisms (like plants and algae) need (carbon
dioxide and water). The chemical potential
energy contained in these sugars is
subsequently used by plants and algae, in
conjunction with inorganic nutrients (such as
nitrate and phosphate), to synthesis a wide
variety of biochemicals through a variety of
different metabolic processes. Utilizing these
biochemicals as well as their potential energy,
plants are able to grow and reproduce. In
addition, a large number of creatures that are
not capable of photosynthesis rely on the plant
biomass that is produced by plants for their
nutrition. Herbivores are species that consume
plants directly, predators consume other
animals, and detritivores feed on dead biomass.
Among these organisms are herbivores,
carnivores, and detritivores. (The energy
linkages that exist within ecosystems will be
discussed in the next paragraph.)

Photosynthetic plants and algae only take in

and use a fraction of one-thousandth of one
percent of the solar energy that strikes the