Energy is treated in a number of articles.

For the development of the concept of energy and the principle of energy
conservation, see principles of physical science; mechanics; thermodynamics; and conservation of energy. For the
major sources of energy and the mechanisms by which the transition of energy from one form to another occurs, see
coal; solar energy; wind power; nuclear fission; oil shale;
petroleum; electromagnetism; and energy conversion.
All forms of energy are associated with motion. For example, any given body has kinetic energy if it is in motion. A
tensioned device such as a bow or spring, though at rest, has the potential for creating motion; it contains potential
energy because of its configuration. Similarly, nuclear energy is potential energy because it results from the
configuration of subatomic particles in the nucleus of an atom.

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Energy can be converted from one form to another in various other ways. Usable mechanical or electrical energy is,
for instance, produced by many kinds of devices, including fuel-burning heat engines, generators, batteries, fuel cells,
and magnetohydrodynamic systems.

In the International System of Units (SI), energy is measured in joules. One joule is equal to the work done by a one-
newton force acting over a one-metre distance.

Energy, in physics, the capacity for doing work. It may exist in potential, kinetic, thermal, electrical, chemical, nuclear,
or other various forms. There are, moreover, heat and work—i.e., energy in the process of transfer from one body to
another. After it has been transferred, energy is always designated according to its nature. Hence, heat transferred
may become thermal energy, while work done may manifest itself in the form of mechanical energy.

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This article was most recently revised and updated by Adam Augustyn.

Young men throw balloons and glitter from above the mosque at the celebration Eid Al-Fitr after prayers playing with
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Eid al-Fitr
Energy can be neither created nor destroyed but only changed from one form to another. This principle is known as
the conservation of energy or the first law of thermodynamics. For example, when a box slides down a hill, the
potential energy that the box has from being located high up on the slope is converted to kinetic energy, energy of
motion. As the box slows to a stop through friction, the kinetic energy from the box’s motion is converted to thermal
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acacia tree
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Category: Science & Tech
Related Topics: heat energy unit kilocalorie International Table calorie
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Calorie, a unit of energy or heat variously defined. The calorie was originally defined as the amount of heat required
at a pressure of 1 standard atmosphere to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water 1° Celsius. Since 1925 this calorie
has been defined in terms of the joule, the definition since 1948 being that one calorie is equal to approximately 4.2
joules. Because the quantity of heat represented by the calorie is known to differ at different temperatures (by as
much as 1 percent), it has consequently been necessary to define the temperature at which the specific heat of water
is to be taken as 1 calorie. Thus the “15° calorie” (also called the gram-calorie, or small calorie) was defined as the
amount of heat that will raise the temperature of 1 gram of water from 14.5° to 15.5° C—equal to 4.1855 joules.
Other less common definitions in this series are the 20° calorie (4.18190 joules) from 19.5° to 20.5° C; and the mean
calorie (4.19002 joules) defined as 1/100 of the heat necessary to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water from 0°
to 100° C.
Another calorie, a unit of heat energy, is the International Table calorie (IT calorie), originally defined as 1/860
international watt-hour. It is equal to 4.1868 joules and is used in engineering steam tables.

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A unit of heat energy used in thermochemistry is the thermochemical calorie, equal to 4.184 joules. It is commonly
used as the unit for heat capacities, latent heats, and heats of reaction.

In a popular use of the term calorie, dietitians loosely use it to mean the kilocalorie, sometimes called the kilogram
calorie, or large Calorie (equal to 1,000 calories), in measuring the calorific, heating, or metabolizing value of foods.
Thus, the “calories” counted for dietary reasons are in fact kilocalories, with the “kilo-” prefix omitted; in scientific
notations a capitalized Calorie is used. In other words, if a peach is listed as having 40 Calories, this indicates that that
peach has actually 40,000 calories.

In nutrition it has been proposed that the kilojoule replace the kilocalorie as the unit of choice for discussing the energy
value of foods. Such a change would bring the nomenclature of food scientists into closer agreement with that of
other scientists. The conversion factor for expressing kilocalories as kilojoules, as recommended by the Committee on
Nomenclature of the International Union of Nutritional Sciences, is 1 kilocalorie equals 4.184 kilojoules, based on the
kilocalorie determined at 14.5° to 15.5° C. Although government publications now often provide energy counts in
kilojoules and kilocalories, Calorie is still the most commonly used food energy unit around the world.

Maxwell’s demon, hypothetical intelligent being (or a functionally equivalent device) capable of detecting and
reacting to the motions of individual molecules. It was imagined by James Clerk Maxwell in 1871, to illustrate the
possibility of violating the second law of thermodynamics. Essentially, this law states that heat does not naturally
flow from a cool body to a warmer; work must be expended to make it do so. Maxwell envisioned two vessels
containing gas at equal temperatures and joined by a small hole. The hole could be opened or closed at will by “a
being” to allow individual molecules of gas to pass through. By passing only fast-moving molecules from vessel A to
vessel B and only slow-moving ones from B to A, the demon would bring about an effective flow from A to B of
molecular kinetic energy. This excess energy in B would be usable to perform work (e.g., by generating steam), and
the system could be a working perpetual motion machine. By allowing all molecules to pass only from A to B, an even
more readily useful difference in pressure would be created between the two vessels. About 1950 the French physicist
Léon Brillouin exorcised the demon by demonstrating that the decrease in entropy resulting from the demon’s actions
would be exceeded by the increase in entropy in choosing between the fast and slow molecules.