Ask Science@lemmy.worldEnglish · 2 days ago

Is energy just a manmade concept?

Ask Science@lemmy.worldEnglish · 2 days ago

Energy in physics feels analogous to money in economics. Is a manmade medium of exchange used for convenience. It is the exchange medium between measureable physical states/things.

Is energy is real in the same way money is? An incredibly useful accounting trick that is used so frequently it feels fundamental, but really it’s just a mathmatical convenience?

Small aside: From this perspective ‘conservatipn of energy’ is a redundant statement. Of course energy must be conserved or else the equations are wrong. The definition of energy is it’s conservation.

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Yondoza@sh.itjust.worksOP
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1 day ago
Great write up.

Agreed, the money analogy breaks down when you bring in the cost fluctuation of a good. The whole purpose of energy is that the same conditions result in the same energy calculation.

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