Outline of energy

Last updated

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to energy:

Contents

Energy in physics, this is an indirectly observed quantity often understood as the ability of a physical system to do work on other physical systems. [1] [2] Since work is defined as a force acting through a distance (a length of space), energy is always equivalent to the ability to exert force (a pull or a push) against an object that is moving along a definite path of certain length.

Forms of energy

Measurement

Units

List of common units for energy. Official or common symbol in brackets after name and exact or approximate value of unit in joule in brackets after description.

SI unit

  • Joule (J) – the SI-unit for energy. Also called newton meter, watt second, or coulomb volt.

Other metric units

  • Kilowatt-hour (kW·h) – corresponds to one kilowatt of power being used over a period of one hour (3.6 MJ).
  • Calorie (cal) – equal to the energy need to raise the temperature of one gram of water by one degree Celsius (~4.184 J).
  • Erg (erg) – unit of energy and mechanical work in the centimetre-gram-second (CGS) system of units (10−7 J).

Imperial or US Customary units

  • British thermal unit (BTU) – equal to the energy need to raise the temperature of one pound of water by one degree Fahrenheit (~1055 J).
  • Therm (thm) – unit of heat energy. In the US gas industry it is defined as exactly 100,000 BTU59 °F. It is approximately the heat equivalent of burning 100 cubic feet (2.8 m3) of natural gas (~105.5 MJ).
  • Quad – unit of energy equal to 1015 (a short-scale quadrillion) BTU.
  • Foot-pound (ft·lbf or ft·lbf) – unit of mechanical work, or energy, although in scientific fields one commonly uses joule (~1.356 J).

Other units

  • Electronvolt (eV) – the amount of energy gained by a single unbound electron when it falls through an electrostatic potential difference of one volt (~1.60 × 10−19 J).
  • Planck energy (EP) – natural unit of energy common in particle physics (~1.96×109 J).
  • Barrel of oil equivalent (BOE) – energy unit equal to the energy released when burning one barrel (159 litres) of oil (~6.12 GJ).
  • Tonne of oil equivalent (toe) – energy unit equal to the energy released when burning one tonne of oil (~42 GJ).

Energy industry

Energy industry

Energy infrastructure

See especially Category:Electric power and Category:Fuels for a large number of conventional energy related topics.

Energy applications

History of energy

History of energy

Physics of energy

Allegorical and esoteric

Politics

Energy issues

Energy policies and use – national and international

International

Regional and national

Economics

Energy economics

Energy companies

Non-profit organizations

Industry associations

Innovators

Lists

See also

References

  1. "Retrieved on 2010-Dec-05". Faculty.clintoncc.suny.edu. Archived from the original on 2007-12-13. Retrieved 2010-12-12.
  2. "Retrieved on 2010-Dec-05" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2011-04-26. Retrieved 2010-12-12.
  3. Jain, Mahesh C. (2009). "Fundamental forces and laws: a brief review". Textbook Of Engineering Physics, Part 1. PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd. p. 10. ISBN   9788120338623.
  4. McCall, Robert P. (2010). "Energy, Work and Metabolism". Physics of the Human Body . JHU Press. p.  74. ISBN   978-0-8018-9455-8.