Energy. E=MC^2 Can never be created nor destroyed

What exactly is energy? Energy is an incredibly complex concept for human beings to actually understand. Simply put, energy is what causes things to move or have power. Without energy, our little four dimensional world (though of course the universe has many more than four dimensions) would not exist as we know it. The reason I mention four dimensions specifically is because everything we can understand is based within the first four dimensions. That being said, without movement through time, we as humans are left with virtually nothing. Of course energy is much more complex than this, but we must look at how energy is prevalent in our four dimensional world to begin to understand it. Energy is indeed (Mass)(the speed of light^2)

First kind of energy  KINETIC (KE) - (1/2mv^2) M=mass V=velocity  That formula, applies only to the abstract notion of a particle.  Kinetic energy is the energy of motion.  Kinetic energy is measured in Joule units. 1 Joule=1 kg*(m/s)^2.  3 forms of kinetic energy translational: the most basic form. It is the energy something has moving from point A to point B. Vibrational: this kind of kinetic energy is especially prevalent in particles. This is the energy gained from an object vibrating. Rotational: this energy is especially prevalent in large objects of mass, such as planets. This energy is gained from an object that is rotating.

Second kind of energy  POTENTIAL (PE) - MGH M=Mass G=Gravity H=Height (You see? The kind of energy we are trying to explain is so limited to our four dimensions)  Potential energy is a strange term because it’s kind of just stored energy before it becomes released as kinetic energy.  It is never associated with a single particle, but rather two or more objects.  For potential energy to exist there must be another force trying to pull the object. In most cases, this force tends to be gravity.

Can energy be stored?  Well, without being able to store energy, we wouldn’t have nearly any of the developments we have in our modern world.  To actually store energy, one must store a substance containing energy. Not actual (pure) energy itself.  Unfortunately, humans are not cool enough to do that…

Energy is not created…energy is not destroyed. ENERGY IS TRANSFERRED. That’s right. What may seem to be “new” energy has actually been around since the big bang. (theoretically anyway) Energy moves from one place to another in various different ways. For example: When humans eat, they gain energy from other plants or animals. All of this energy most likely came from the sun. Plants are ones to talk. They get all their energy from the sun (photosynthesis). So, when we eat plants…or better yet, when we eat animals that ate plants, or even better, animals that ate animals that ate plankton that ate plants? This is the transfer of energy as seen in living things. But of course, that isn’t the only kind of energy. The transfer of energy is constantly happening. IT NEVER, EVER STOPS.

Dark Energy (awwww yeah) A little history first: Around 14 billion years ago, our universe as we know it, flickered into existence. The big bang. The early universe would have been so hot, atoms couldn’t even exist. As our universe expanded, things naturally became cooler, and the environment slowly became hospitable for atoms, then molecules, and so and so forth. Eventually, things clumped into things as big as planets, stars, etc. This is all because of gravity. The reason the universe started to expand slower, and slower was because of the gravity. As things got closer together they started to have a stronger gravitational pull on each other. Therefore, slowing down the expansion of the universe. In the 20 th century, astronomers discovered that universe had enough mass to slow down the expansion of the universe, but never enough to quite enough to stop the universe from expanding or bring the universe to a collapse. Of course, this all very debatable. Astronomers wanted to try and calculate how much the universe had slowed down since it had been expanding. They were evaluating some data on a supernova. Instead, they came across the peculiar results. They noticed that the supernovae were so dim, that they must be farther away then expected. If they were truly that far away, this signified that the universe was indeed expanding at a quicker rate as opposed to slowing down. The astronomers were confused to what could possibly cause this acceleration considering how gravity pulls things together. There must have been another force causing this. Scientists turned to the Hubble telescope. What they found fit only within the model that the universe expansion must be accelerating.

Dark Energy Continued Roughly 70% of our universe is dark energy. Dark matter makes up 25%. That means that everything else as we know it only makes up 5% of our known universe. One explanation for it is that it’s a property of space and that what was formally brushed off as “nothingness” is actually dark energy. Another explanation is that it is a kind of dynamical energy field or fluid. It fills up all of space but it has the opposite affect on expansion than matter or “regular” energy.

Bibliography "Dark Energy, Dark Matter." NASA Science. Web. 27 Nov Foundation, Education. "Kinetic and Potential Energy." ORACLE. ORACLE: Think Quest. Web. 27 Nov "HubbleSite - Hubble Discoveries - Dark Energy." HubbleSite - Out of the Ordinary...out of This World. Web. 27 Nov Sefton, Ian M. "Understanding Energy." Thesis. The University of Sydney. Sydney.edu. School of Physics. Web. 27 Nov