SciShow Hey Hank, I'm not quite satisfied with that answer. If I'm to describe why I see the answer as "incomplete" then I'd say this: I ask you what makes up water and you say Molecules when I wanted to hear Oxygen/Hydrogen (or even better, quarks and that sort of stuff). In short: Yes, energy is everything, it makes up everything, but what IS it? All matter around us is made up of quarks and gluons and stuff and there's a lot of information about what exactly those things are. You could probably spend an hour telling me everything about quarks, why not spend like 5 minutes telling me about energy? It's like, if the question had been "what is matter", you'd have just answered "it is quarks". Tell a bit more detailed please, this is one of the questions I've been curious about for quite some time and I just can't seem to find an answer anywhere
he said it at the beginning, is the ability to move things around. That's it, there are no more answers because nobody knows how energy works in its most fundamental level, just like we don't actually know how matter is what it is instead of other stuff... So energy is more of something that happens than something that is by itself, or at least that's how I simplify it :P
It's like answering "what is love?" or "what is consciousness?" You can spend hours explaining everything there is to know about it, but if the person is expecting some deeper meaning, they're left feeling that their question wasn't answered.
Zazz30 Now that's a good answer. I'd figured that since I couldn't find an answer there probably wasn't one. We haven't found out what caused the Big Bang either after all.
Anju Maaka "What caused the big bang?" is an interesting one. Since the big bang created time, there was no time before it for there to be a cause. So perhaps the idea of causality doesn't actually apply.
Zazz30 Well, it certainly won't be an easy answer but there has to be one. If something happens there is a reason. Our universe was created by the Big Bang so it's possible it was created by something that acts on completely different laws, beyond what we will ever understand
Did he ever go over how we measure energy? I tried replaying it 5 times and never heard it. If he did what did he say on how we measure energy? Or when did he say it
I think it would be worth mentioning Noether's Theorem in this context. That energy is the constant that must exist if the laws of universe are constant in time. I think that is quite profound:)
This may help some people who found this video useless. There are two kinds of energy. The first kind, which is talked about in this video, is not made of anything. It is simple a term used to describe a trait of matter. Things like potential and kinetic energy are not real, physical objects they are mathematical concepts that describe properties of matter. However, the second kind of energy does exist physically as light. Light is made of photons, which are little bundles of pure energy. The more energy something has, the hotter it is, the faster it moves and the more light (energy) it radiates. The Sun has an enormous amount of energy and blasts the Earth with its radiation. Radiation is a physical wave of energy that travels at the speed of light. They come in all kinds of different frequencies which are determined by how much energy the wave has. These waves of radiation are what we see as light. The light we can see is only a small portion of the full spectrum of light. The spectrum goes from gamma rays (which are extremely powerful waves of energy that would destroy the human body) to x-ray, ultra violet, visible light, infrared, microwave, and finally radio. So to actually answer the question of "what is Energy?" There are two meanings to the word. One is a mathematical concept that describe attributes and traits of matter. Like Kinetic, potential and chemical energies. The other is a physical particle known as a photon which radiates from all matter and we perceive as light.
Matthew Theobald What do you mean by “it actually physically exists”? Not playing word games here, asking seriously. Because I am familiar with the word photon, but what is that made of? Aren’t you essentially saying: energy (the 2nd form i.e. the actual physical form) consists of tiny particles called photons which are bundles of pure energy - which boils down to: energy is made of energy. It’s then still a complete mystery to me what this physical kind of energy is actually made of? I totally understand and agree with your notion of the first form of energy: just an abstract concept to describe certain characteristics mathematically, rather than something actually physical. But don’t you think that is essentially the case for the 2nd form as well? And, in fact, for everything we call ‘real’ or ‘physical’ such as matter, photons, neutrinos, etc?
TheDoomAmbassador The total amount of energy in a system (including the energy required to create matter) cannot change, no. It is however possible to create matter using energy and vice versa. That's why physicists sometimes are talking about a particle's mass in eV (electronvolts) instead of kilograms.
Fal Leithani I wouldn't say matter is "composed" of energy, even though is a more correct picture of the whole thing. Rather, matter and energy are different things, but can be converted into each other.
2:15 - You wouldn't gain any energy by splitting a carbon atom since the carbon nucleus is lighter than the iron nucleus. It actually requires energy to split the carbon atom because the attractive nuclear force between the nucleons is a lot stronger in the carbon nucleus than the repelling electromagnetic force between the protons.
The clearest explaination for it I found is this: It's a conserved quantity of a system with respect to time. The total energy of a bouncing ball is equal to a term containing its velocity (KE) and another term containing its position above the ground (PE). So since these 2 terms sum up to consonant if the velocity increases the hight decreases and vice versa which totally describe the bouncing ball system. That's way for me at least I love to understand the work-energy-power concepts starting with energy not work. Work is the change of energy. So in our system the change of KE between 2 points is the work between them (remember the total is consonant). And since any increase in KE comes from PE for TE to remain consonant. The work W describes how much PE was converted to KE from point 1 to point 2. From this you get that power is just the rate of this transfer (how fast it was) by dividing over the time from point 1 to point 2.
this was more of a description of energy rather than an ontological explanation of what energy "is" in its essence. but maybe only im asking for that version of the question...
It's the ability to perform work or generate heat. That's what it is. Much like weight is the ability to be affected by gravity or charge the ability to react electromagnetically.
I don't see any way to explain the 'essence' of energy other than describing it, but then again, I haven't deeply studied it or it may just be beyond human understanding.
Ohh, this guy is on point. What you say is true. Energy is information, my man. As a concept it is defined by the parameters of its use. This, by observation, is as specific as you can get. The second you define it as any concept beyond the capacity to be described... you can form a question that can challenge the perspective.
MenwithHill its like if I asked what is a chimney and you told me its a place where you burn logs and smoke rises up and out of the top to prevent the smoke from going in your house, where I was looking for, bricks, mortar, etc. thats what he means by ontological
-Design answers "How" -Purpose answers "Why" -Form answers "What, Who, Where, When" Form=Purpose+Design Knowing How something works confesses what it is and what it can be used for. It also confesses what it's proper name should be. You can then read reality and name everything within it correctly.
Energy is those small things that make up the big things. Smash something up enough or burn it into the smallest things you can and that is energy. There is always something there because there is no such thing as nothing. There is only change from one existence to another. The real question is whether or not those things are selfaware at all to choose what is outside of their natures to choose. So far we are the only things in the universe that have a voluntary element to our existence that can classify us as "living" not just "alive / existing" in a subconscious-only way.
All things must have a medium to exist upon / within. Our universe is 96% energy. Think of it like water or fluidic-space and it becomes easier to understand. All of the 4% matter swims within this universal-ocean. It is why everything is round and seems to be spiraling down a drain or floating around like discarded debris. Gravity is therefore caused by matter displacing energy. Energy is space. Space is the medium we all exist within as it expands like the universe is exhaling. Maybe it will inhale and we will have that to figure out as well.
I would LOVE to see a series of videos about energy, going as deep into the rabbit hole as human knowledge allows. Also made with cool pics, animations and visualizations :D
To be a little less vague and mystical, energy is basically the ability to provide force over distance, using the units kg*m²/s² or N(newton)*m. The easiest way to visualize this is to imagine you're pushing an object upward over a certain distance. Gravity applied a force that you needed to overcome (N) and you overcame this force for the certain distance (m). It takes the form of scenarios that will naturally undo themselves, such as the compression of a spring, the separation of two attracting objects, or the difference of velocity of objects going into a collision. The spring will decompress itself, the attracting objects will move back toward each other, and the colliding objects will collide and either become stationary relative to each other, or reverse their velocities relative to each other.
0MoTheG There are, but describing all of them would have required a screen length of text. The purpose of my description was to give a more quantifiable explanation of what it is and to give some examples.
We do know what energy is and I think Hank answered the question well within the constraints of the programme format. HOWEVER, the energy we use every day isn't recycled. It flows from the nuclear reactions in the sun, into plants via photosynthesis then through the food chain and on the way gets converted to lower grade heat that is unusable, un-recyclable, then emitted to outer space as infra red radiation. Or we burn fissionable nuclear fuel which was itself forged from the energy of fusion in a supernova. That now covers every source of useful energy.
"Today a young man on acid realized that all matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration. That we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively. There is no such thing as death, life is only a dream, and we are the imagination of ourselves." - Bill Hicks
Oh, Hank, you're going a bit off at the nuclear energy point: "splitting" a carbon nucleus would require energy, not release it. The lightest elements release energy by fusion and the heaviest ones by fission. According to conservation of energy going the other way around uses up energy. The center at witch it flips is somewhere close to iron. (In case of hydrogen the nucleus is just one proton (usually) so I don't really know what you're up to by mentioning that either)
Lac nah didn’t forget I couldn’t do it because of all the work and started to get stressed 😩 They give us loads of work and except us to finish the next day. I hate my school!!!! 😣
nonono, what is energy? Not, what does energy do, what is it? What is this force that drives the universe? I mean literally, what is it? Why is it here? I mean, this Universe has this driving force that allows for us to live and think/breathe, etc. Why? I know what it does, I know it can't be destroyed, but I still don't truly know what it is. Answer? No one knows, there ya go, just say that. You can describe what it does all day long, but the real answer remains a mystery still.
It's like answering "what is love?" or "what is consciousness?" You can spend hours explaining everything there is to know about it, but if the person is expecting some deeper meaning, they're left feeling that their question wasn't answered. Imagine explaining what blood is to someone 3000 years ago. To them, blood is the "life force", so they're expecting an answer with more significance. They would say that you've only explained what it does, not what it is.
Energy isn't an actual thing you realise? Its a concept. Therefore energy comes in multiple forms, heat, light etc. That is what it is. Whatever energy it takes the form of... Its an abstract concept I understand but this is an idea that humans have developed.
The reason i love this channel is that it helps me get super good grades at school, I mean this guy is a way better teacher than my chemestry, and biology teacher plus their is no annoying brats making stupid questions or wasting time ( thouth there are some stupid comments but I dont have to listen to them)
When talking about nuclear energy I think there was a bit of a mistake there. Taking a nucleon away from a carbon atom requires energy, the net result would be negative. This doesn't apply to all of the elements, though. It's just removing nucleons from elements lighter than iron (specifically iron-56 says wikipedia) requires energy. These elements can however release energy through nuclear reactions and here is, where the misstep is. Lighter elements release energy through fusion in other words adding nucleons. It's nuclides heavier than iron that release energy by giving up nucleons. This is because they tend for a more stable state, which would be the aforementioned iron nuclide. I do have doubts about that since the textbook I have quotes a different nuclide, something-62. Can't check it no unfortunately. After this he talks about the energy stored in the mass of the particles so I'm fairly sure I am not the person getting the wrong end of the stick here. I'm not sure the preceding piece of writing is very coherent and I'm just writing this for myself, to revise for an upcoming test on physics. So I guess watching this video had some unexpected utility. おわり
Technically you are both correct. There are two types of energies that is usually calculated using e = m c squared formua. The first one is the energy that is released or consumed when you bind or break nuclear bonds. This amount of energy happens from the fact that the mass of an atom is not exactly equal to the mass of the nuclei it contains. The difference is released or consumed as the equation suggests. However, the creation of energy form carbon would not process it to hydrogen. Instead after breaking the atom into parts it would be assembled into even more heavy elements releasing bigger amount of energy in the proceess. This is the basis for so cold cold fusion reactors. They however are still not proven to be feasible for energy generation. The only objects that prove that such process exists are stars and thermonuclear bombs. The stars are burning all sorts of atoms into iron(and even heavier atoms from time to time) while releasing electromagnetic radiation and some heated matter. Another type of energy exists due to the fact that the nuclei themselves have their own mass and this mass is also equivalent to energy. To release it you have to annihilate each nucleus with its "antimatter" counterpart. This causes a big problem for fundamental research of antimatter properties because it tends to annihilate with any normal matter in the absence of any other energy around.
When I was in high school the science teachers had a "dress up as an element day" or something, where each one dressed up in the theme of some type of element. My science teacher, a nice lady, had come in a pretty dress which was coloured in particularly bright colours from all over the spectrum. When coming into our class, a child, who like me was 15 at the time asked "Why're you dressed up, miss?" "Well all of the teachers are dressing up as elements today. What element do you think I am?" After thinking for a short moment, his face lit up and he said "Energy?" enthusiastically, feeling proud of himself. We were in the highest set, and she was neon.
Actually, in order to get nuclear energy from elements liter than Iron (like Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen, and many others) you need to fuse them rather than split them. Because lowest energy state for nuclei is Iron nucleus, so heavier elements tend to split, while lighter element tend to give out tons of nuclear energy when fusing together (this for example happens in Sun all the time)
+Jason “Jase” Mitchell The answer is, no it's not actually a 'thing'. There's no fundamental particle of energy, it's just a property that actual 'things' can possess.
Did he ever go over how we measure energy? I tried replaying it 5 times and never heard it. If he did what did he say on how we measure energy? Or when did he say it
The fission of hydrogen is impossible, and the fission of carbon does not net you energy. The fusion of carbon does, though, anything that increases the binding energy per nucleon will do that (you can technically fission lithium and get an energy release because helium has so much binding energy per nucleon). This seems like a pretty big oversight, should of been caught by your experts.
Joseph Clayson Fission of uranium and plutonium, not carbon or hydrogen...carbon does not yield energy in fission (and hydrogen is just a single proton, you can't split that via a sustained fission reaction IE introduction of a neutron)
Yes. Care should be taken when you make the statement that energy is stored in molecular/nuclear bonds. It's a bit misleading. You can release energy from a reaction when the energy of your final state configuration is smaller than the energy of your initial state configuration. A bound stable state always has negative energy.
Jacob Banji Ajala My question was about something else. Not what the video was about. He did state and the end if we had any other questions... Thank you.
sigh.. i know this is old but hank! come on! "energy gets released by breaking bonds"...you know better! but to clarify for those who don't know this, you don't get energy from the wood by breaking the bonds, that takes energy, hence why you have to heat the log before you can get any energy back out. However, once the wood is broken down into CO and H2 it can form bonds with oxygen. This bond forming reaction is where the energy comes from forming CO2 AND H2O. This is because energy required to be stable molecules of CO2 and H2O is less than the energy required to be stable molecules of C0, H2, and O2. And it just so happens that the amount of extra energy gained by forming these oxygen bonds is far greater than the energy required to break the original bonds in the wood so the process is able to continue spontaneously from there. Second point... I think the answer your viewers were actually looking for relates to the question; if matter is made of "energy", what exactly is this "energy" and how can it make matter? I'll admit this is a hard question to answer, but i know your up to the task. In the mean time however I'll give it a shot should any inquisitive viewer want to know more. To start to understand what "energy" really is at the most fundamental level we have to look to quantum field theory. Scary I know! but this is a RUclips comment post.. so i promise this won't be to deep.. lol.. In this model the universe is made up of fields. Fields that give rise to forces like the electromagnetic force, and fields that give rise to particles like the electron field. These fields interact and influence each other via the "flow" of "energy". This may sound very much like something out of star wars, but i promise this is far less mystical than "the force". In fact we are all at least somewhat familiar with at least one of these fields, the electromagnetic field. The electromagnetic field itself can in fact be looked at as two separate interacting fields, the electric field and the magnetic field. It is in these fields that it is easiest to get a grasp on what "energy" truly is. By looking at just the electric field we start to see that energy is the product of a potential gradient. Imagine a giant rubber band secured at both ends and pulled tight.. this is one field line.. when at rest there is no energy in it.. we call this the zero point. now pull the rubber band up away from this line. There is now a potential gradient between it and it's resting point as it wants to return to this no energy point. now just for this model i'm going to pretend that the rubber band hits something and comes to a perfect stop a zero point. in this example the gradient has fallen to zero and there is no energy left. In reality the energy passes through the zero point and creates a new potential.. either a negative potential in the same field or a new potential in another field. So in a nutshell that is what energy is, although i know that viewers are probably still left with more questions than answers. Most notably, if energy is the movement of potential gradients how did the original potential gradient come to be in the first place? and why is there this "flow" of "energy" moving through these fields at all? These are good questions, ones that to the best of my knowledge we don't have good answers for yet, but we've got some pretty good ideas, but that is another discussion.
Thank you kindly for this explanation. I remember learning about energy briefly in college.. But now whenever I hear about energy, its in a spiritual sense.. And it's normally linked to vibrations and how things and people vibrate at different levels. Is that possible?
Ciiii guys welcome to physics!!! here is one of the most asked questions in the world!!!!!! WHAT IS ENERGY?! its everything!!!! YAAAAAAAAASSSSS!!!!!!!! funk u
TheLeftLibertarianAtheist Hydrogen nucleus is just a proton (usually), so unless you're going to rip apart quarks (witch *requires* massive amounts of energy), there's nothing to break down...
Okay SciShow, here's a question... Where's the defining line of life? Obviously there are atoms, chemicals and compounds in every living thing, but at which state are they no longer "just chemicals" and are considered to be alive?
***** Understood; however, I guess the basic question is: "what is life". Chemical reactions in the lab are not "alive", but chemical reactions in cells make them alive. At what point does a chemical/electrical reaction become life?
mc4bbs Well, life requires six things. It needs reproduction, organization, to be able to respond, use energy, be made of cells and most importantly be able to grow.
I keep trying to contemplate an answer to your question, but every answer I come up with I find to also be true for the universe as a whole. Therefore I've decided that the universe is alive. Which makes sense, because "life" as we understand it on Earth could only have come from something else that is alive. So if the universe is regarded as alive, then it makes sense that the universe itself would begat more life within itself.
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as i understand it, the ability for energy to do work is limited by entropy. At some point entropy will be at a maximum and the ability to use energy to do work can not be done. Am I wrong?
Energy diffuses in the same sense that gases diffuses. So as energy becomes more rarefied it becomes harder to do any significant amount of work with it, this process of rarefaction is what we call entropy. So its not that the energy cannot do work because of entropy, it just isn't a significant amount of work after a while.
Yep. And as space is expanding, there is more and more of it to be filled up by the static amount of energy available in the universe. Entropy is increasing rapidly (in a cosmic sense).
If I didn't know he had a teleprompter, I'd think Hank Green was among the smartest people in the world. He does play the part well, and is definitely my favorite SciShow host.
Can I just say I freaking love the comment sections here! Scrolled down for almost an hour just reading people asking questions, other people (mostly nicely) answering them, or starting intellectual debates that don't end up being about each others mums. Hats off to all of you =D
Depends, does weed have any properties that cause/aggravate bronchospasms? If yes, then in my opinion it is not advisable to smoke weed in asthma. Do the research, it's for your health.
I have a suggestion. There was a video earlier which described what happened to the brain when a person was infatuated with another. Think you could show us what happens to a person that is suffering from heartbreak, too? I'd really appreciate that :P
When you're done with the World's most asked questions, could you give a shot at explaining mine? It's been puzzling me for a while and I can't quite understand it. Why doesn't quantum entanglement allow for faster than light communication? An example, you entangle two particles, you put one on a ship and the other stays on Earth. The Crew boarding the ship know that if the particle's spin is up it means Yes, and if it's spin is down it means No. I'm sure you could code a rudimentary binary system from this, or heck even go extremely basic and just state to each other before leaving that Up spin means someone got married back on Earth. So, what am I missing? Also, perhaps even more perplexing to me is how does one particle have an effect on another one light years away, instantaneously? Even if we can't use it for FTL, how are the particles themselves communicating? And finally, how are we even able to detect that particles can become entangled and in so doing one particle's state affects the other faster than light? How can we know they are able to do it so fast?
Not sure why you think quantum entanglement is the driving force of that. What your looking for is the theory of reletivity. Time is relative depending on energy properties, gravity, and mass.
You cannot transfer information via entanglement because the information that electrons transfer is completely random information containing ambiguous position information, which means essentially nothing, so no laws are truly broken. The Uncertainty Principle is also an issue with this as well. FTL communication might be possible, but I also feel that it's out of reach at least for a Type 0 Civilization such as us.
PissedOffGhost That is an exelent question! I would say yes, because you can store information with different amounts of energy. If you have a source of usable energy that is low on information then you could consume that energy to produce and store more information. But then Information is relative. A book in Arabic has almost no information for me, more for an Arab and even more if you are to make a perfect copy.
HALL9000ish None of the theories proposed by theoretical physicists are either of the things you mentioned. I happen to be familiar with many of these theories, and I certainly wouldn't describe any of them as "guesses". All of these theories are carefully peer-reviewed by very smart physicists and mathematicians, and are extremely specific mathematical models based off known experimental facts of cosmology. In fact, the theory of eternal inflation is coming very close to being directly proven through experimental observation. See the article: www.preposterousuniverse.com/blog/2014/03/16/gravitational-waves-in-the-cosmic-microwave-background/ for a detailed description of these experimental discoveries and their implications.
Luna That is one of the stupidest answer you could have provided. Why shouldn't this person strive towards knowledge just because it is probable he will never get the answers? Who then should try to figure this out? do you think that there is someone out there who will live for a million year and that this immortal being should work on it alone since it is the only person that would live long enough to get answers? Science is all about striving for knowledge and understanding, even if we don't get the answers. Do not dare try to quench this person's curiosity just because the probability of getting the answers is small. Should you refrain from asking questions just because you're afraid you won't be answered or should you ask them and really actually do what ever you can to achieve a deeper understanding of what the answer might be? Seriously, shut up.
Protons don't (if the standard model is correct) decay because they are baryons and they are the lightest of the baryons so they will not decay. Their quark number is conserved. In a lot of GUT's like string theory, you can break this number. However, this has yet to be tested by experimentation.
Lol , When people ask me what I believe in now that I no longer believe, Ive always told them I believe in energy. Its in everything . It does not require humans to worship it. It does not think or talk to us...and it surley wont send some of us to heaven but MOST of us to hell. Energy just is. This was a great video!! : )
Most of elements in wood are lighter than iron, so you would need to fuse its nuclei to get energy, not split them. Also, you can't transform most of rest energy of matter into work, because of baryon number conservation and other conservation laws.
Sorry hank but this is the first video of yours I have thumbed down as I feel you have avoided the question by simply rattling on about types of energy. We do NOT know what energy is, we know some of its forms and disguises, but not what 'makes' energy energy.
Well that is stuff that was released in Big Bang, you cant say anything beyond that/ But ye you comment is kinda true. Tough question to begin with though.
***** Yeah, but that's when all interactions started. Energy was there, but it was not interacting. Or maybe it was, what energy is is still unknown. We can name it or describe interactions, but it is fundamental, as far as we know.
I have to agree. "Energy is Everything" certainly is not the answer to "What is Energy?" To be fair though Energy is not so easily defined. At some point scientists thought of Energy and Matter as two different things. Now we know that matter is made of energy and even a perfect vacuum is bubbling with energy. So I suppose the best answer I would have to "What is Energy?" is that Energy is the Void: The nothingness from which all things come and all things will return to. It certainly seems like a philosophical answer, but science is indeed part philosophy. The answer I gave could be seen as a bit of a cop out too, but I'd be curious to learn any better understanding of what Energy truly is.
That isn't really a answer, sort of like saying fire is the ability to burn something, when it isn't, its a chemical reaction that results in heat. What we want to know is fundamentally, what is energy.
This is how my mind understands it: Energy: -energy is a verb to me, but we use it in a sentence as a noun, so it is confusing, right? -energy is the act of displacing something by applying force (this force being applied is also energy, LOL) -energy is an infinite cycle of forces moving stuff around, and transforming matter, and we don't know how this started or the cause of it, if any, hmmmmmm? -energy, fundamentally, is movement (even potential energy, atoms are not static) -BTW, the "energy is the ability to do work" is a poor definition, that is what I learned in school, and I did not understand it. The nuclear energy in objects is difficult to imagine as "having the ability to do work", but I can imagine microscopic atoms moving around that make up an object.
Lot of people here seem dissatisfied with the answer here, which is too bad because I doubt that there is a much better answer. However, does nobody else think that breaking apart a carbon atom wouldn't release energy? Carbon is lighter than iron, so it would only release energy when fused with other light nuclei.
Describing energy as 'the ability to do work' is so frustrating. It's like me asking what a car is and someone saying 'it's the potential to transport oneself'... WHAT IS IT?!??!!?!
Splitting a carbon atom would actually require energy, since the BE/nucleon is increased up to iron. That's why we want to fusion deuterium, and not fission it.
From what I understand, mass/matter is just densely-packed, compressed energy. That is to say that the Laws of Conservation (of Mass and Energy) are both the same thing. If you "destroy" matter, you "create" energy, and vice versa. So, in theory, all energy in the universe could technically be substantive, and all substance in the universe could technically be energy. I think I have that right.
Alas! Derrick would be disappointed. The energy released by burning wood comes from making *stronger* bonds, not by breaking previous bonds. If bonds were only broken, the wood would be absorbing energy from its surroundings, making it feel cold.
SciShow Hey Hank, I'm not quite satisfied with that answer. If I'm to describe why I see the answer as "incomplete" then I'd say this: I ask you what makes up water and you say Molecules when I wanted to hear Oxygen/Hydrogen (or even better, quarks and that sort of stuff).
In short: Yes, energy is everything, it makes up everything, but what IS it? All matter around us is made up of quarks and gluons and stuff and there's a lot of information about what exactly those things are. You could probably spend an hour telling me everything about quarks, why not spend like 5 minutes telling me about energy? It's like, if the question had been "what is matter", you'd have just answered "it is quarks". Tell a bit more detailed please, this is one of the questions I've been curious about for quite some time and I just can't seem to find an answer anywhere
he said it at the beginning, is the ability to move things around. That's it, there are no more answers because nobody knows how energy works in its most fundamental level, just like we don't actually know how matter is what it is instead of other stuff... So energy is more of something that happens than something that is by itself, or at least that's how I simplify it :P
It's like answering "what is love?" or "what is consciousness?"
You can spend hours explaining everything there is to know about it, but if the person is expecting some deeper meaning, they're left feeling that their question wasn't answered.
Zazz30
Now that's a good answer. I'd figured that since I couldn't find an answer there probably wasn't one. We haven't found out what caused the Big Bang either after all.
Anju Maaka "What caused the big bang?" is an interesting one.
Since the big bang created time, there was no time before it for there to be a cause. So perhaps the idea of causality doesn't actually apply.
Zazz30
Well, it certainly won't be an easy answer but there has to be one. If something happens there is a reason. Our universe was created by the Big Bang so it's possible it was created by something that acts on completely different laws, beyond what we will ever understand
Really the world's most asked question: "Are we there yet?"
Yes. I never asked it lol
LOL!!!!!!!!!!
No we aren’t there yet…
not yet
What kind of trash ass English is this
Boost is the secret of my energy!
Fantastic!
First like
OMG I JUST TO WATCH YOU WHEN I WAS LITTLE
Did he ever go over how we measure energy? I tried replaying it 5 times and never heard it. If he did what did he say on how we measure energy? Or when did he say it
omg
''Everything is energy
and energy is you and me''
(Anathema)
Was expecting an answer but he just reiterated what we all learned in primary school.
Almost as if primary school actually had answers...
Don't know about you, but my primary school never explained E=mc2 to me
Nah... He explained it much better.
Scishow: Answering everything you learned in 7th grade, one question at a time.
Who's here becuase their teachers made them watch this?
Here
Me
fr
here ofc
My mom instead of the teacher 💀
"lungs absorbing oxygen..."
Great. Now I'm breathing manually.
now you made me breath manually
@@deltadude7417 You made me breath manualy
@@xtremegamrr3719 now i'm breathing manually again
my teacher made me watch this i watched the first 20 seconds and then asked her if there was an english version
My teacher made me watch this to for health
haha quirky and witty!!!!!!🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Haahhaa quirky STFU
@@Diavolo-ey2om chill out it was just a joke
@@cohrcive chill out it was just a joke
I think it would be worth mentioning Noether's Theorem in this context. That energy is the constant that must exist if the laws of universe are constant in time. I think that is quite profound:)
As do I!
Watched this in science class today. Totally made my day.
I'm doing the same right now
how
how
It's Log, Log, Log! It's Log, Log, it's big, it's heavy, it's wood. It's Log, Log, it's better than bad, it's good!
Why does this sound familiar..?
Jordan O'C It's from Ren and Stimpy. Was a mock cartoon ad for a toy called "log"
The God Emperor Jesus Christ, I haven't heard anyone talk about Ren and Stimpy for a LOOONNNNGGGG time..
Jordan O'C I actually never liked Ren and Stimpy as a kid, always disgusted me lol. I just can never forget about Log :p
The God Emperor That show was amazing xD
But I don't remember no log .. ?
*There is no space, time, matter, or energy. This constitutes a topological transformation.* -- *Alexander Vilenkin*
This may help some people who found this video useless.
There are two kinds of energy. The first kind, which is talked about in this video, is not made of anything. It is simple a term used to describe a trait of matter. Things like potential and kinetic energy are not real, physical objects they are mathematical concepts that describe properties of matter. However, the second kind of energy does exist physically as light.
Light is made of photons, which are little bundles of pure energy. The more energy something has, the hotter it is, the faster it moves and the more light (energy) it radiates. The Sun has an enormous amount of energy and blasts the Earth with its radiation. Radiation is a physical wave of energy that travels at the speed of light. They come in all kinds of different frequencies which are determined by how much energy the wave has. These waves of radiation are what we see as light. The light we can see is only a small portion of the full spectrum of light. The spectrum goes from gamma rays (which are extremely powerful waves of energy that would destroy the human body) to x-ray, ultra violet, visible light, infrared, microwave, and finally radio.
So to actually answer the question of "what is Energy?" There are two meanings to the word. One is a mathematical concept that describe attributes and traits of matter. Like Kinetic, potential and chemical energies. The other is a physical particle known as a photon which radiates from all matter and we perceive as light.
Matthew Theobald What do you mean by “it actually physically exists”? Not playing word games here, asking seriously. Because I am familiar with the word photon, but what is that made of? Aren’t you essentially saying: energy (the 2nd form i.e. the actual physical form) consists of tiny particles called photons which are bundles of pure energy - which boils down to: energy is made of energy. It’s then still a complete mystery to me what this physical kind of energy is actually made of?
I totally understand and agree with your notion of the first form of energy: just an abstract concept to describe certain characteristics mathematically, rather than something actually physical. But don’t you think that is essentially the case for the 2nd form as well? And, in fact, for everything we call ‘real’ or ‘physical’ such as matter, photons, neutrinos, etc?
So energy is light? That sounds kind of like spiritual stuff.
when i saw your tv commercial on the tv I squealed so much that my mom turned around and looked at me as if i had grown a second nose
hank, I would like to buy your energy log
jcoronet2000 I will have it for $100
Grand Admiral Thrawn I’ll have it for $500,bring it on
same
i will take it for 1000$ even though i dont have that much so haha
Matthew A I’ll take it for $5,000 of my invisible money
You can tell how much Hank loves his energy.
LOL
Please do a rundown of Maxwell's Equations called "What do Magnets stick to?"
I like the Twin Peaks reference :)
Follow up question, could you expand upon how matter is energy?
TheDoomAmbassador Matter isn't really energy, but it takes energy to form mass and mass releases energy when it is destroyed.
TheLeftLibertarianAtheist
But isn't there a law about matter not appearing or disappearing?
TheLeftLibertarianAtheist
Or to paraphrase, matter isn't energy, but matter is completely composed of energy.
TheDoomAmbassador The total amount of energy in a system (including the energy required to create matter) cannot change, no.
It is however possible to create matter using energy and vice versa. That's why physicists sometimes are talking about a particle's mass in eV (electronvolts) instead of kilograms.
Fal Leithani I wouldn't say matter is "composed" of energy, even though is a more correct picture of the whole thing. Rather, matter and energy are different things, but can be converted into each other.
2:15 - You wouldn't gain any energy by splitting a carbon atom since the carbon nucleus is lighter than the iron nucleus. It actually requires energy to split the carbon atom because the attractive nuclear force between the nucleons is a lot stronger in the carbon nucleus than the repelling electromagnetic force between the protons.
🤓
Honestly who would watch this for fun I’m pretty sure everyone who watches this is here for school painful but true
yup that's what we are doing rn
The clearest explaination for it I found is this: It's a conserved quantity of a system with respect to time. The total energy of a bouncing ball is equal to a term containing its velocity (KE) and another term containing its position above the ground (PE). So since these 2 terms sum up to consonant if the velocity increases the hight decreases and vice versa which totally describe the bouncing ball system.
That's way for me at least I love to understand the work-energy-power concepts starting with energy not work. Work is the change of energy. So in our system the change of KE between 2 points is the work between them (remember the total is consonant). And since any increase in KE comes from PE for TE to remain consonant. The work W describes how much PE was converted to KE from point 1 to point 2.
From this you get that power is just the rate of this transfer (how fast it was) by dividing over the time from point 1 to point 2.
People nowadays use energy as a way to justify rocks having magic powers
this was more of a description of energy rather than an ontological explanation of what energy "is" in its essence. but maybe only im asking for that version of the question...
It's the ability to perform work or generate heat. That's what it is. Much like weight is the ability to be affected by gravity or charge the ability to react electromagnetically.
I don't see any way to explain the 'essence' of energy other than describing it, but then again, I haven't deeply studied it or it may just be beyond human understanding.
MenwithHill ability is a property, and properties don't explain the ontology of an object/thing.
Ohh, this guy is on point.
What you say is true. Energy is information, my man.
As a concept it is defined by the parameters of its use. This, by observation, is as specific as you can get.
The second you define it as any concept beyond the capacity to be described... you can form a question that can challenge the perspective.
MenwithHill its like if I asked what is a chimney and you told me its a place where you burn logs and smoke rises up and out of the top to prevent the smoke from going in your house, where I was looking for, bricks, mortar, etc. thats what he means by ontological
The subject of energy always makes me think of monks, and makes me have a great respect for monks.
Ah yes, the "I don't ask, I just chill and exist" approach, sometimes we should try to do the same thing you do, Shadowirit, my respects
"The act of displacing something by applying Force" 0:48
But you need energy to apply that force...
-Design answers "How"
-Purpose answers "Why"
-Form answers "What, Who, Where, When"
Form=Purpose+Design
Knowing How something works confesses what it is and what it can be used for. It also confesses what it's proper name should be. You can then read reality and name everything within it correctly.
@@bnb7094 this is why ppl can't understand what energy is.
And this is why this video can't answer that question.
Nobody can.
Answer not satisfactory.
Energy is those small things that make up the big things. Smash something up enough or burn it into the smallest things you can and that is energy.
There is always something there because there is no such thing as nothing.
There is only change from one existence to another.
The real question is whether or not those things are selfaware at all to choose what is outside of their natures to choose. So far we are the only things in the universe that have a voluntary element to our existence that can classify us as "living" not just "alive / existing" in a subconscious-only way.
All things must have a medium to exist upon / within.
Our universe is 96% energy. Think of it like water or fluidic-space and it becomes easier to understand. All of the 4% matter swims within this universal-ocean. It is why everything is round and seems to be spiraling down a drain or floating around like discarded debris.
Gravity is therefore caused by matter displacing energy. Energy is space. Space is the medium we all exist within as it expands like the universe is exhaling. Maybe it will inhale and we will have that to figure out as well.
You the man Hank...you are so smart i admire you.
Taking Physics this year! Perfect for this video!
So, does this mean every time I fart, I'm farting out a star?
Lol!😂😂
Lol 😂🤣
Maybe a Supernova!
that's what i'd call a brown dwarf...
I would LOVE to see a series of videos about energy, going as deep into the rabbit hole as human knowledge allows. Also made with cool pics, animations and visualizations :D
To be a little less vague and mystical, energy is basically the ability to provide force over distance, using the units kg*m²/s² or N(newton)*m. The easiest way to visualize this is to imagine you're pushing an object upward over a certain distance. Gravity applied a force that you needed to overcome (N) and you overcame this force for the certain distance (m). It takes the form of scenarios that will naturally undo themselves, such as the compression of a spring, the separation of two attracting objects, or the difference of velocity of objects going into a collision. The spring will decompress itself, the attracting objects will move back toward each other, and the colliding objects will collide and either become stationary relative to each other, or reverse their velocities relative to each other.
Pikirii Keling There are many more energy forms than you described.
0MoTheG There are, but describing all of them would have required a screen length of text. The purpose of my description was to give a more quantifiable explanation of what it is and to give some examples.
We do know what energy is and I think Hank answered the question well within the constraints of the programme format. HOWEVER, the energy we use every day isn't recycled. It flows from the nuclear reactions in the sun, into plants via photosynthesis then through the food chain and on the way gets converted to lower grade heat that is unusable, un-recyclable, then emitted to outer space as infra red radiation.
Or we burn fissionable nuclear fuel which was itself forged from the energy of fusion in a supernova. That now covers every source of useful energy.
2:41 my god, you're choice of words to describe that Nobel prize laureate. Awesome.
"Today a young man on acid realized that all matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration. That we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively. There is no such thing as death, life is only a dream, and we are the imagination of ourselves."
- Bill Hicks
Nice reference to Tool
What is more interesting to ask is: what is NOT energy?
(Since matter is also energy..)
Time is not energy, space is not.
Anything that takes up space and has mass, space, time, that's about it.
Oh, Hank, you're going a bit off at the nuclear energy point:
"splitting" a carbon nucleus would require energy, not release it. The lightest elements release energy by fusion and the heaviest ones by fission. According to conservation of energy going the other way around uses up energy. The center at witch it flips is somewhere close to iron. (In case of hydrogen the nucleus is just one proton (usually) so I don't really know what you're up to by mentioning that either)
Andy Flow You are right. he put that wrong. I think he meant the entire energie not that of the strong interaction and electric force.
Shhh let the person be
Energy is a calculation that works.
Energy is a model to describe everything.
I got a sci show ad while watching scishow :D
my school told me to watch this online for science T-T R.I.P meh
Twilightonthe Moon same and I was supposed to do it a few weeks ago I
Same
Me too
RIP why, you forgot to do it on time? Tche tche tche, with all the time in the world on your hands now, oh kids nowadays.. Just teasing ya :D
Lac nah didn’t forget I couldn’t do it because of all the work and started to get stressed 😩 They give us loads of work and except us to finish the next day. I hate my school!!!! 😣
New Question: How do allergies work? How do we get them? What do they do to our bodies?
nonono, what is energy? Not, what does energy do, what is it? What is this force that drives the universe? I mean literally, what is it? Why is it here? I mean, this Universe has this driving force that allows for us to live and think/breathe, etc. Why?
I know what it does, I know it can't be destroyed, but I still don't truly know what it is.
Answer? No one knows, there ya go, just say that. You can describe what it does all day long, but the real answer remains a mystery still.
It's like answering "what is love?" or "what is consciousness?"
You can spend hours explaining everything there is to know about it, but if the person is expecting some deeper meaning, they're left feeling that their question wasn't answered.
Imagine explaining what blood is to someone 3000 years ago. To them, blood is the "life force", so they're expecting an answer with more significance. They would say that you've only explained what it does, not what it is.
Energy isn't an actual thing you realise? Its a concept. Therefore energy comes in multiple forms, heat, light etc. That is what it is. Whatever energy it takes the form of... Its an abstract concept I understand but this is an idea that humans have developed.
Energy is "real", it's just not tangible. It can coalesce into matter after all.
energy is information, it's that simple...
cr0wsb0nes I've heard that before, but that isn't true. You have to define information, and information from mechanical energy makes no sense.
The reason i love this channel is that it helps me get super good grades at school,
I mean this guy is a way better teacher than my chemestry, and biology teacher plus their is no annoying brats making stupid questions or wasting time ( thouth there are some stupid comments but I dont have to listen to them)
I kind of have to agree with others here, that this is a nice explanation of what energy does, but not really what it is.
Question: Why(How) do we cry and what is the difference between 'happy tears' and 'sad tears'?
When talking about nuclear energy I think there was a bit of a mistake there.
Taking a nucleon away from a carbon atom requires energy, the net result would be negative. This doesn't apply to all of the elements, though. It's just removing nucleons from elements lighter than iron (specifically iron-56 says wikipedia) requires energy. These elements can however release energy through nuclear reactions and here is, where the misstep is. Lighter elements release energy through fusion in other words adding nucleons. It's nuclides heavier than iron that release energy by giving up nucleons. This is because they tend for a more stable state, which would be the aforementioned iron nuclide.
I do have doubts about that since the textbook I have quotes a different nuclide, something-62. Can't check it no unfortunately.
After this he talks about the energy stored in the mass of the particles so I'm fairly sure I am not the person getting the wrong end of the stick here.
I'm not sure the preceding piece of writing is very coherent and I'm just writing this for myself, to revise for an upcoming test on physics. So I guess watching this video had some unexpected utility.
おわり
Technically you are both correct. There are two types of energies that is usually calculated using e = m c squared formua.
The first one is the energy that is released or consumed when you bind or break nuclear bonds. This amount of energy happens from the fact that the mass of an atom is not exactly equal to the mass of the nuclei it contains. The difference is released or consumed as the equation suggests. However, the creation of energy form carbon would not process it to hydrogen. Instead after breaking the atom into parts it would be assembled into even more heavy elements releasing bigger amount of energy in the proceess. This is the basis for so cold cold fusion reactors. They however are still not proven to be feasible for energy generation. The only objects that prove that such process exists are stars and thermonuclear bombs. The stars are burning all sorts of atoms into iron(and even heavier atoms from time to time) while releasing electromagnetic radiation and some heated matter.
Another type of energy exists due to the fact that the nuclei themselves have their own mass and this mass is also equivalent to energy. To release it you have to annihilate each nucleus with its "antimatter" counterpart. This causes a big problem for fundamental research of antimatter properties because it tends to annihilate with any normal matter in the absence of any other energy around.
Great question, great answer. You've done it again scishow. Keep being awesome
Excellent way to put it for a large audience, Hank!
When I was in high school the science teachers had a "dress up as an element day" or something, where each one dressed up in the theme of some type of element. My science teacher, a nice lady, had come in a pretty dress which was coloured in particularly bright colours from all over the spectrum. When coming into our class, a child, who like me was 15 at the time asked "Why're you dressed up, miss?" "Well all of the teachers are dressing up as elements today. What element do you think I am?" After thinking for a short moment, his face lit up and he said "Energy?" enthusiastically, feeling proud of himself. We were in the highest set, and she was neon.
Good look splitting that Hydrogen atom!
Actually, in order to get nuclear energy from elements liter than Iron (like Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen, and many others) you need to fuse them rather than split them. Because lowest energy state for nuclei is Iron nucleus, so heavier elements tend to split, while lighter element tend to give out tons of nuclear energy when fusing together (this for example happens in Sun all the time)
I'm still no more forward with my concept of energy in terms of somethings ability to do work. We see its effects but is it actually a 'thing'.
yup
+Jason “Jase” Mitchell The answer is, no it's not actually a 'thing'. There's no fundamental particle of energy, it's just a property that actual 'things' can possess.
Thanks. Just in time for the unit after my energy unit.
Cool stuff as always, and a Sci-show first with the subtle Twin Peaks reference!
Did he ever go over how we measure energy? I tried replaying it 5 times and never heard it. If he did what did he say on how we measure energy? Or when did he say it
The fission of hydrogen is impossible, and the fission of carbon does not net you energy. The fusion of carbon does, though, anything that increases the binding energy per nucleon will do that (you can technically fission lithium and get an energy release because helium has so much binding energy per nucleon). This seems like a pretty big oversight, should of been caught by your experts.
Nuclear fission is not impossible, it was how the atom bomb worked.
Joseph Clayson Fission of uranium and plutonium, not carbon or hydrogen...carbon does not yield energy in fission (and hydrogen is just a single proton, you can't split that via a sustained fission reaction IE introduction of a neutron)
Christopher Willis yeah, sorry, that makes sense
Joseph Clayson No problem, glad you would rightly defend fission's existence
Yes. Care should be taken when you make the statement that energy is stored in molecular/nuclear bonds. It's a bit misleading. You can release energy from a reaction when the energy of your final state configuration is smaller than the energy of your initial state configuration. A bound stable state always has negative energy.
If time and space are the same thing, then what is space expanding into?
Time and space aren't the same thing dumbass.
LilKidAttacker Then what is the time space continuum? smart-ass
hellavadeal I think he said mass and energy
Jacob Banji Ajala My question was about something else. Not what the video was about. He did state and the end if we had any other questions...
Thank you.
Oh I'm sorry and Likkid shouldn"t have been rude about ur question
sigh.. i know this is old but hank! come on! "energy gets released by breaking bonds"...you know better! but to clarify for those who don't know this, you don't get energy from the wood by breaking the bonds, that takes energy, hence why you have to heat the log before you can get any energy back out. However, once the wood is broken down into CO and H2 it can form bonds with oxygen. This bond forming reaction is where the energy comes from forming CO2 AND H2O. This is because energy required to be stable molecules of CO2 and H2O is less than the energy required to be stable molecules of C0, H2, and O2. And it just so happens that the amount of extra energy gained by forming these oxygen bonds is far greater than the energy required to break the original bonds in the wood so the process is able to continue spontaneously from there.
Second point... I think the answer your viewers were actually looking for relates to the question; if matter is made of "energy", what exactly is this "energy" and how can it make matter?
I'll admit this is a hard question to answer, but i know your up to the task. In the mean time however I'll give it a shot should any inquisitive viewer want to know more.
To start to understand what "energy" really is at the most fundamental level we have to look to quantum field theory.
Scary I know! but this is a RUclips comment post.. so i promise this won't be to deep.. lol..
In this model the universe is made up of fields. Fields that give rise to forces like the electromagnetic force, and fields that give rise to particles like the electron field. These fields interact and influence each other via the "flow" of "energy". This may sound very much like something out of star wars, but i promise this is far less mystical than "the force". In fact we are all at least somewhat familiar with at least one of these fields, the electromagnetic field. The electromagnetic field itself can in fact be looked at as two separate interacting fields, the electric field and the magnetic field. It is in these fields that it is easiest to get a grasp on what "energy" truly is. By looking at just the electric field we start to see that energy is the product of a potential gradient. Imagine a giant rubber band secured at both ends and pulled tight.. this is one field line.. when at rest there is no energy in it.. we call this the zero point. now pull the rubber band up away from this line. There is now a potential gradient between it and it's resting point as it wants to return to this no energy point. now just for this model i'm going to pretend that the rubber band hits something and comes to a perfect stop a zero point. in this example the gradient has fallen to zero and there is no energy left. In reality the energy passes through the zero point and creates a new potential.. either a negative potential in the same field or a new potential in another field.
So in a nutshell that is what energy is, although i know that viewers are probably still left with more questions than answers. Most notably, if energy is the movement of potential gradients how did the original potential gradient come to be in the first place? and why is there this "flow" of "energy" moving through these fields at all?
These are good questions, ones that to the best of my knowledge we don't have good answers for yet, but we've got some pretty good ideas, but that is another discussion.
Michael Ransom k
Thank you kindly for this explanation. I remember learning about energy briefly in college.. But now whenever I hear about energy, its in a spiritual sense.. And it's normally linked to vibrations and how things and people vibrate at different levels. Is that possible?
i love ur glasses
they r like postman pat
I needed this video in high school physical science class...
Ciiii guys welcome to physics!!!
here is one of the most asked questions in the world!!!!!!
WHAT IS ENERGY?!
its everything!!!!
YAAAAAAAAASSSSS!!!!!!!!
funk u
Hank you can't rip a Hydrogen's nucleus apart ;_;
Jonix55 You can bombard it with neutrons for example causing it to split.
TheLeftLibertarianAtheist Hydrogen nucleus is just a proton (usually), so unless you're going to rip apart quarks (witch *requires* massive amounts of energy), there's nothing to break down...
TheLeftLibertarianAtheist u don't get it Hydrogen nucleus is made up of only 1 proton
Yeah that's what I meant lol, otherwise you'd just be splitting a really heavy isotope of Hydrogen
***** Well, they do agree that ripping doesn't release energy in this case.
Okay SciShow, here's a question... Where's the defining line of life? Obviously there are atoms, chemicals and compounds in every living thing, but at which state are they no longer "just chemicals" and are considered to be alive?
*****
Understood; however, I guess the basic question is: "what is life". Chemical reactions in the lab are not "alive", but chemical reactions in cells make them alive. At what point does a chemical/electrical reaction become life?
*****
Good answer. Still, life is dependant upon external energy (heat, food, water), it's not truly self-sustaining.
mc4bbs Well, life requires six things. It needs reproduction, organization, to be able to respond, use energy, be made of cells and most importantly be able to grow.
I keep trying to contemplate an answer to your question, but every answer I come up with I find to also be true for the universe as a whole. Therefore I've decided that the universe is alive. Which makes sense, because "life" as we understand it on Earth could only have come from something else that is alive. So if the universe is regarded as alive, then it makes sense that the universe itself would begat more life within itself.
I believe the most basic answer you can get for describing "life" is the ability to self replicate.
This video doesn't explain what energy is, it explains what energy does.
How thought provoking and awakening. All of us are connected with the energy that's been here through the starting of universe.
Don't you dare say first
Don't have to. You already did.
1th
***** excuse me young man but that 2012 meme language is unnacceptable
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as i understand it, the ability for energy to do work is limited by entropy. At some point entropy will be at a maximum and the ability to use energy to do work can not be done. Am I wrong?
Energy diffuses in the same sense that gases diffuses. So as energy becomes more rarefied it becomes harder to do any significant amount of work with it, this process of rarefaction is what we call entropy. So its not that the energy cannot do work because of entropy, it just isn't a significant amount of work after a while.
Perhaps the universe is a closed-loop system where the only constant is change.
"That guy"
Yep. And as space is expanding, there is more and more of it to be filled up by the static amount of energy available in the universe. Entropy is increasing rapidly (in a cosmic sense).
Tyler Oakley I hope we find it's not a closed loop after all :)
I love you Hank :) you guys should do a video on nova (not supernova) that's what my research is in and it's SUPER cool!
If I didn't know he had a teleprompter, I'd think Hank Green was among the smartest people in the world. He does play the part well, and is definitely my favorite SciShow host.
He wa
Can I just say I freaking love the comment sections here!
Scrolled down for almost an hour just reading people asking questions, other people (mostly nicely) answering them, or starting intellectual debates that don't end up being about each others mums. Hats off to all of you =D
I have a question: should you smoke weed while having asthma? my brother dose it and I just don't know anymore
Depends, does weed have any properties that cause/aggravate bronchospasms? If yes, then in my opinion it is not advisable to smoke weed in asthma. Do the research, it's for your health.
I have a suggestion.
There was a video earlier which described what happened to the brain when a person was infatuated with another.
Think you could show us what happens to a person that is suffering from heartbreak, too?
I'd really appreciate that :P
i know its been 6 years but i agree with you
When you're done with the World's most asked questions, could you give a shot at explaining mine? It's been puzzling me for a while and I can't quite understand it.
Why doesn't quantum entanglement allow for faster than light communication? An example, you entangle two particles, you put one on a ship and the other stays on Earth. The Crew boarding the ship know that if the particle's spin is up it means Yes, and if it's spin is down it means No. I'm sure you could code a rudimentary binary system from this, or heck even go extremely basic and just state to each other before leaving that Up spin means someone got married back on Earth.
So, what am I missing?
Also, perhaps even more perplexing to me is how does one particle have an effect on another one light years away, instantaneously? Even if we can't use it for FTL, how are the particles themselves communicating?
And finally, how are we even able to detect that particles can become entangled and in so doing one particle's state affects the other faster than light? How can we know they are able to do it so fast?
Not sure why you think quantum entanglement is the driving force of that. What your looking for is the theory of reletivity. Time is relative depending on energy properties, gravity, and mass.
The problem is that once you read out the particle, the entanglement will break down because you affect the particle
Because of Heisenberg uncertainty principle. Right. That's why we have best educated guesses.
The law of observation. Google it.
You cannot transfer information via entanglement because the information that electrons transfer is completely random information containing ambiguous position information, which means essentially nothing, so no laws are truly broken. The Uncertainty Principle is also an issue with this as well. FTL communication might be possible, but I also feel that it's out of reach at least for a Type 0 Civilization such as us.
The title of this video made me think the video would be stupid. But the video turnd out to be really good. Thanks guys!
Best question yet.
Can information be created?
Yes, you just did.
PissedOffGhost That is an exelent question!
I would say yes, because you can store information with different amounts of energy. If you have a source of usable energy that is low on information then you could consume that energy to produce and store more information.
But then Information is relative. A book in Arabic has almost no information for me, more for an Arab and even more if you are to make a perfect copy.
0MoTheG I would have to agree with him, it sort of depends of how you define information.
Well, you just created some... so yeah information can be created.
No, information is conserved; cannot be created or destroyed, only changed in form.
so if energy can't be created, how did it start exist in the first place?
aawwhh baby's first question about creation
You'll never get an answer for that in your lifetime kid, don't even bother.
Unknown. There are a few theories, but they are all ether total guesses or ways to avoid answering the question.
HALL9000ish None of the theories proposed by theoretical physicists are either of the things you mentioned. I happen to be familiar with many of these theories, and I certainly wouldn't describe any of them as "guesses". All of these theories are carefully peer-reviewed by very smart physicists and mathematicians, and are extremely specific mathematical models based off known experimental facts of cosmology. In fact, the theory of eternal inflation is coming very close to being directly proven through experimental observation. See the article: www.preposterousuniverse.com/blog/2014/03/16/gravitational-waves-in-the-cosmic-microwave-background/ for a detailed description of these experimental discoveries and their implications.
Luna That is one of the stupidest answer you could have provided. Why shouldn't this person strive towards knowledge just because it is probable he will never get the answers? Who then should try to figure this out? do you think that there is someone out there who will live for a million year and that this immortal being should work on it alone since it is the only person that would live long enough to get answers? Science is all about striving for knowledge and understanding, even if we don't get the answers. Do not dare try to quench this person's curiosity just because the probability of getting the answers is small. Should you refrain from asking questions just because you're afraid you won't be answered or should you ask them and really actually do what ever you can to achieve a deeper understanding of what the answer might be? Seriously, shut up.
*****
wow, that is one of the most beautiful strawmans I've ever read; bravo.
I hope you feel accomplished.
Does the proton decay?
no it does not, the proton has a very long half life and we have yet to observe it decaying
***** Don't say "it does not". Everything decays, but like you said, the proton has a *very* long half-life(3 confirmed)
Jordan O'C thank you for correcting me, it has yet to decay
Protons don't (if the standard model is correct) decay because they are baryons and they are the lightest of the baryons so they will not decay. Their quark number is conserved. In a lot of GUT's like string theory, you can break this number. However, this has yet to be tested by experimentation.
Naomi Williams Hmmm. Maybe you are right, maybe I am right. Or maybe we are both wrong..? :o
This question blows my mind
But what is energy? Does it have a chemical compound? What is it consisted of? Can you draw its shape (if it has any) on a paper?
I have a question maybe you could answer! Why do people still believe in the Christian Religion, or any other religion for that matter?
Lol , When people ask me what I believe in now that I no longer believe, Ive always told them I believe in energy. Its in everything . It does not require humans to worship it. It does not think or talk to us...and it surley wont send some of us to heaven but MOST of us to hell. Energy just is. This was a great video!! : )
The same exact reason you believe what you believe.
He still didn't answer the question as to what It's made of.
+Thomas The Dank Engine What do you mean what it's made of? It's just a property of matter. It's like asking "What size is made of".
Dude. if we knew that answer we would be gods.
-.-
+The Skooma Cat actually matter is a property of energy as crazy as it sounds, not the other way around
Wouldn't' it be truer to say they are just forms of each other, though matter is in a concentrated form? E=mc2 being the exchange rate?
so what is energy?
Energy is the ability to do work
What is it made of?
energy.
it doesnt physically exist (i think), and is just the ability for things to happen and or have reactions
Matter is made of atoms which in their turn made of subatomic particules.
So what the hell is ENERGY made of?
Second most asked question probably - "Why is the volume set to different levels on EVERY SciShow video?"
Most of elements in wood are lighter than iron, so you would need to fuse its nuclei to get energy, not split them. Also, you can't transform most of rest energy of matter into work, because of baryon number conservation and other conservation laws.
Sorry hank but this is the first video of yours I have thumbed down as I feel you have avoided the question by simply rattling on about types of energy. We do NOT know what energy is, we know some of its forms and disguises, but not what 'makes' energy energy.
Well that is stuff that was released in Big Bang, you cant say anything beyond that/ But ye you comment is kinda true. Tough question to begin with though.
*****
Yeah, but that's when all interactions started. Energy was there, but it was not interacting. Or maybe it was, what energy is is still unknown.
We can name it or describe interactions, but it is fundamental, as far as we know.
I have to agree. "Energy is Everything" certainly is not the answer to "What is Energy?" To be fair though Energy is not so easily defined. At some point scientists thought of Energy and Matter as two different things. Now we know that matter is made of energy and even a perfect vacuum is bubbling with energy.
So I suppose the best answer I would have to "What is Energy?" is that Energy is the Void: The nothingness from which all things come and all things will return to.
It certainly seems like a philosophical answer, but science is indeed part philosophy. The answer I gave could be seen as a bit of a cop out too, but I'd be curious to learn any better understanding of what Energy truly is.
0:48 - "Energy is the ability to do work". The answer is right there. The rest is just prose, otherwise it would be a 3 second video.
That isn't really a answer, sort of like saying fire is the ability to burn something, when it isn't, its a chemical reaction that results in heat. What we want to know is fundamentally, what is energy.
When you compress space you convert space into energy also known as the casimir effect. Useful when traveling long distances.
I'm energized ! ☺
Fantastic video.😊
This is how my mind understands it:
Energy:
-energy is a verb to me, but we use it in a sentence as a noun, so it is confusing, right?
-energy is the act of displacing something by applying force (this force being applied is also energy, LOL)
-energy is an infinite cycle of forces moving stuff around, and transforming matter, and we don't know how this started or the cause of it, if any, hmmmmmm?
-energy, fundamentally, is movement (even potential energy, atoms are not static)
-BTW, the "energy is the ability to do work" is a poor definition, that is what I learned in school, and I did not understand it. The nuclear energy in objects is difficult to imagine as "having the ability to do work", but I can imagine microscopic atoms moving around that make up an object.
Lot of people here seem dissatisfied with the answer here, which is too bad because I doubt that there is a much better answer. However, does nobody else think that breaking apart a carbon atom wouldn't release energy? Carbon is lighter than iron, so it would only release energy when fused with other light nuclei.
nice 😀😀😀😀 really understand after this
Describing energy as 'the ability to do work' is so frustrating. It's like me asking what a car is and someone saying 'it's the potential to transport oneself'... WHAT IS IT?!??!!?!
thanks for telling me
Thank You!! Now I know what is energy. :)
Splitting a carbon atom would actually require energy, since the BE/nucleon is increased up to iron. That's why we want to fusion deuterium, and not fission it.
Thumbs up if you saw this SciShow in a commercial!
From what I understand, mass/matter is just densely-packed, compressed energy. That is to say that the Laws of Conservation (of Mass and Energy) are both the same thing. If you "destroy" matter, you "create" energy, and vice versa. So, in theory, all energy in the universe could technically be substantive, and all substance in the universe could technically be energy. I think I have that right.
press f little kids who are watching this for school in quarantine
This was surprisingly philosophical.
Alas! Derrick would be disappointed. The energy released by burning wood comes from making *stronger* bonds, not by breaking previous bonds. If bonds were only broken, the wood would be absorbing energy from its surroundings, making it feel cold.