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 30-SECOND
ENERGY
The 50 most fundamental concepts, each explained in half a
minute
Editor
Brian Clegg

Foreword
Jim Al-Khalili

Contributors
Philip Ball
Brian Clegg
Leon Clifford
Simon Flynn
Sharon Ann Holgate
Andrew May

Illustrations
Steve Rawlings

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CONTENTS
Foreword
Introduction

The Basics
GLOSSARY
What is Energy?
Heat
Kinetic Energy
Potential Energy
Profile: James Prescott Joule
Chemical Energy
Nuclear Energy
Mass Energy
Conservation of Energy

Natural Energy
GLOSSARY
Gravity
Inflation
Inside a Star
Living Things
Dark Energy
Profile: Alan Guth
Zero-point Energy
Where Did it All Come From?

Storing Energy
GLOSSARY
ATP
Coal
Oil
Fission
Fusion
Profile: Alessandro Volta
Water Storage
Fuel Cells
Batteries

Transmitting Energy
GLOSSARY
Thermal Conduction
Convection
Radiation
Profile: Heike Kamerlingh Onnes
Transporting Chemicals
Lasers
Down the Wire
Superconductors

Converting Energy
GLOSSARY
Oxidation
Burning
External Combustion
Internal Combustion
Electromagnetism
QED
Profile: Charles Algernon Parsons
Turbines

Going Green
GLOSSARY
Biofuels
Solar
Wind
Hydro
Profile: William Thomson, Lord Kelvin
Waves
Geothermal
Nuclear
Energy & Entropy
GLOSSARY
What is Entropy?
The Second Law
Increasing Disorder
The Closed System
Maxwell’s Demon
Profile: Ludwig Boltzmann
The Life Cycle of the Universe

Resources
Notes on Contributors
Index
Acknowledgements

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FOREWORD
Jim Al-Khalili

There is no other term in the whole of science that has been so abused,
misunderstood or misused as the term ‘energy’. We all think we understand
what it means – after all, it pervades so much of our lives and everyday
language that it has long since lost any sense of mystery, unlike many other
common scientific concepts, such as ‘time’, ‘space’ or ‘mass’, which still
retain a certain inscrutability and dignity.
Another issue is that the notion of energy is so hard to pin down – it
seems to be a catch-all term that covers what, at first glance, appear to be
quite unrelated concepts. This is because energy does indeed come in many
different forms. On the one hand, we can think of it as something physical,
something we can see (light) and feel (heat). But energy is also the pull of
the earth’s gravity, the stored promise of a compressed spring and the élan
vital that differentiates the living from the inanimate. Everything in the
world that moves, or changes or interacts does so because it is making use
of some form of energy.
A frustration to many scientists is that some people unwisely use the
term ‘energy’ as a vague metaphysical presence, or simply as a
psychological feeling. They may say something like ‘I could feel the
negative energy as soon as I entered the room’ or ‘he exuded positive
energy’. Such misguided notions serve only to muddy the water further.
But energy can be defined. We just need to understand the rules of the
game. For example, when a scientist or engineer uses the term ‘work’ as a
scientific concept, they mean something quite precise – it is an action on a
system that transfers energy from one form to another or from one place to
another. Indeed, the entire discipline of thermodynamics explores the
relationship between heat, work and energy. And this doesn’t even touch on
nuclear energy, or the chemical energy in our cells or the nature of dark
energy out in space.
Like others in the 30–Second series, this book will give you a
delightfully fresh perspective on energy, in all its forms and in bite-sized
chunks, by some of the best explainers around.
OceanofPDF.com
INTRODUCTION
Brian Clegg

It is practically impossible to pin down exactly what energy is, but far easier
to say what it does – energy makes things happen. Whether we’re thinking
of machinery, living things or the flow of a stream down a mountainside,
there’s energy at work. And as Einstein’s equation E=mc2 shows, we now
know that energy is not just what makes things happen to matter – energy
and matter are interchangeable. Energy is the vital stuff of the universe.
Because we were slow to realize how many guises energy takes, it has
traditionally been divided into many forms – although the distinctions
between these different forms are not as clear as they once were. For
instance, when atoms or molecules are moving in a substance we can’t
separate their heat energy from the kinetic energy of their movement – it
can still be useful to think of those different ‘kinds’ of energy. For this
reason we will begin our exploration by classifying energy from heat,
through potential and chemical energy to nuclear and mass energy. All this
is pulled together in the overarching discovery that unites these different
ways that energy shows itself: while we can transform energy, we can
neither make it nor destroy it – energy is conserved.
The modern world is so energy-rich and energy-dependent that a
mention of energy outside the scientific context will usually make us think
of electric power generation. But with the basics under our belts, it makes
sense first to consider energy in nature. We don’t make our own energy, we
transform it from natural sources, whether it’s the gravity that lies behind a
hydroelectric plant, the chemical energy stored by living things that we use
in fossil fuel or the vast natural nuclear reactor that is the Sun, which gives
us, directly or indirectly, the clear majority of the energy we use.
Storing and Transmitting Energy
If we think of all that energy being passed around – from sunlight to plants,
and from plants to other living things in our power stations and vehicles – it
becomes obvious that to make such an energy economy work we need the
equivalent of banks and wallets. Energy storage is a fundamental
requirement to make sensible use of energy. We find this in nature, where
the energy from sunlight and eating is stored away in the structure of tiny
molecules called ATP. Our complex networks of electricity also drive us to
store electrical energy. The difficulty of developing better battery
technology, for example, is probably the single biggest barrier to a truly
clean energy future.
In most cases energy isn’t stored up where it’s going to be used, and so it
needs to be transmitted from place to place and converted from one form to
another. Some of the most exciting technical developments in recent years,
from the use of lasers to superconductors in various projects, have been
involved in energy transmission. At the same time, we have become aware
of the impact our energy habits are having on the planet and are dedicating
increasingly large efforts to green mechanisms in order to minimize that
effect.
After exploring the wide-ranging impact of energy, we bring the book to
a close with an associated concept – entropy – that is so tightly intertwined
with energy that it is impossible to separate the two. Entropy, a measure of
order and disorder, is at the heart of why we can’t make a perpetual motion
machine, or an engine that perfectly uses all the energy available. Entropy
could even forecast the end times of the universe and so gives us the ideal
close on our picture of this most universal of concepts.
How This Book Works
Each topic is clearly and concisely explained on one page in a punchy
single paragraph: the 30-second theory. For an even quicker overview,
there is the 3-second thrash – the key idea caught in a single sentence.
Then the 3-minute thought expands on this, addressing the consequences
of a theory or drawing out a quirky, intriguing aspect of the subject. Each
chapter also contains the profile of a pioneer in energy theory or
applications – people such as James Prescott Joule, Alessandro Volta and
William Thomson, Lord Kelvin – and a glossary that explains key terms
and trickier concepts.
OceanofPDF.com
THE BASICS
THE BASICS
GLOSSARY

antimatter Matter in which some properties, such as electrical charge, are

reversed. Colliding equivalent matter and antimatter particles annihalate to
produce pure energy.

atoms Smallest matter particles constituting a chemical element. All atoms

jiggle about, while those in liquids and gases also travel through the fluid. The
combined effect of this motion is heat.

conservation of energy Several phenomena in nature are conserved, including

energy. This means that in a system isolated from the outside, the energy stays
the same. Because E=mc2 shows that mass and energy are interchangeable, we
need to include mass and energy.

E=mc2 Einstein’s equation describes the relationship between energy, E, and

the mass of a substance, m, linked by the square of the speed of light, c.

electromagnetic radiation Moving electricity produces magnetism, while

moving magnets produce electricity. At the right speed a moving wave of
electricity will generate magnetism, which generates electricity and so on: this
is electromagnetic radiation, which includes radio, microwaves, light and X-
rays.

electrostatic bonds When atoms join to make molecules, the electrical

attraction between negatively charged electrons on one atom and the positive
charge of the other atom is called electrostatic bonding.

electrons Negatively charged fundamental particles making up the outer part of

an atom. Electrons act as carriers of electrical energy.

entropy Term describing the level of disorder in an object or collection of

objects, measured as the number of different ways the components of the object
can be arranged.

enzymes Complex molecules produced in living organisms; enzymes are

catalysts – substances that speed up a chemical reaction but don’t form part of
the reaction’s final products.

free energy Energy in a system available to do work. In a chemical reaction,

the free energy is the difference between the energy of the initial and final
states of the atoms or molecules taking part.

fundamental conservation laws In physics, several quantities stay the same in

an isolated system. These include mass, or energy, momentum and angular
momentum (a measure of the spin of a body).

gravitational field A field describes the value of anything at every point in

space (and time). In physics, fields are used to describe, for example, the
strength of gravitational attraction.

gravity well The gravitational attraction of a body – for example, the Earth –
gets bigger as we get closer to it. To escape from that body’s attraction takes
energy, which is likened to getting out of a well, hence the term ‘gravity well’.

molecules Atoms link because of the attraction between negative and positive
electrical charges. Such combined atoms are called molecules, which can vary
from a simple molecule combining two identical atoms to the complex
molecules of DNA.

momentum Mass of an object multiplied by its velocity. Momentum is a

measure of the amount of ‘oomph’ a moving body has.

protons and neutrons Heaviest particles in an atom. Protons (which have a

positive charge) and neutrons (which have no electrical charge) form a tight
core called the nucleus.

strong nuclear force Protons and neutrons are made of smaller particles called
quarks. The strong nuclear force keeps quarks together to make up the bigger
particles. It also holds the protons and neutrons together in the nucleus despite
the repulsion of positively charged protons.

theory of relativity Einstein’s extension of Newton’s laws of motion to include

light’s constant velocity. The result is that it is not possible to separate space
and time, as movement influences the passage of time.
thermodynamics Literally ‘the movement of heat’. Thermodynamics is the
science of how heat energy is transferred from place to place, central to
understanding any process involving heat.

velocity Combines speed and direction of movement, for example 30 m/sec (98
ft/sec) horizontally.
WHAT IS ENERGY?
the 30-second theory

This is an embarrassing confession in a book of this nature, so we shall let the

great physicist Richard Feynman make it: ‘It is important to realize that in
physics today, we have no knowledge of what energy is’. As Feynman
explains, we know that energy comes in many interconvertible forms, and we
can say something about each of them. But as to what energy as a raw concept
is, we struggle to give an answer. We might say that energy is something we
can use to do useful work, like lifting up an object – except that some energy
can’t be used in that way. Chemical energy can be stored in fuels and released
in chemical reactions; kinetic energy is possessed by moving bodies;
gravitational potential energy is something an object has by virtue of its
position in a gravitational field – high above the ground, say. Warm objects
have heat energy. But what it is that all these forms of energy share, apart from
the fact that they can be converted from one form to another, it’s hard to say. It
is almost like a vital essence that drives change and movement in the universe –
but there’s nothing mystical in that. Energy, like life or art, is best understood
by example, not by definition.

3-SECOND THRASH
Energy comes in many interconvertible forms, and can be harnessed to do useful work. But it’s hard to
say what it is.

3-MINUTE THOUGHT
We don’t know how much energy our universe contains, but it might be none. It’s perfectly possible, in
theory, to create a universe with zero energy, and ours might be that way because all the positive
energy in light, heat and matter could be perfectly balanced by the ‘negative energy’ bound up in
gravitational fields. If this were the case, the universe should be uniform on average – as, indeed, it
seems to be.

RELATED TOPICS
See also
HEAT
CONSERVATION OF ENERGY

3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
GOTTFRIED WILHELM LEIBNIZ
1646–1716
German philosopher who introduced a scientific notion akin to (kinetic) energy, called vis viva

THOMAS YOUNG
1773–1829
English polymathic scientist who was the first person known to use the word ‘energy’ in a scientific
context in 1802

30-SECOND TEXT
Philip Ball

Energy is involved in practically everything we experience – from

the output of the Sun to our ability to move – and can be
transformed to perform a variety of different functions.
HEAT
the 30-second theory

We know what it implies for something to be hot, but the form of energy
responsible for it – heat – is a trickier concept than it might appear. Heat is a
form of energy associated with the motion of an object’s atoms and molecules:
the more vigorously they jiggle about, the more heat the object contains. But
heat is not exactly identical to that motional (kinetic) energy of particles: it
refers to a transfer of energy, from a hot body to a cooler one. It’s something
that flows, and indeed was once considered a sort of fluid. If some of the
internal energy due to atomic motions in one body is transferred to the internal
energy of another, heat has flowed between them. This can happen via direct
physical contact – heat conduction – or via the emission of electromagnetic
radiation, such as light or infrared, through space: heat radiation. Heat, or
thermal energy, is often considered ‘low-grade energy’ because it can be hard
to harness to do work. During energy transfers, some of it almost inevitably
ends up being wasted as heat, which is dispersed into the environment – for
example, through friction, which causes heating in electrical wires and devices
and which dissipates the kinetic energy of flowing fluids.

3-SECOND THRASH
Heat is a flow of energy caused by differences in internal energy: it flows from hot to cold, making the
atoms of the cooler body jiggle more vigorously.

3-MINUTE THOUGHT
Because some energy is always ‘wasted’ when harnessing it for work, generally ending up as heat
dispersed inaccessibly throughout the surroundings, it seems inevitable that eventually all energy in
the universe will end up in thermal form, and the heat will spread out evenly. Then it will be
impossible to recover any energy to perform work, and nothing can happen. This situation, first
discussed in the mid-nineteenth century, became known as the heat death of the universe.

RELATED TOPICS
See also
KINETIC ENERGY
CHEMICAL ENERGY
THE SECOND LAW

3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
ANTOINE LAVOISIER
1743–94
French chemist who imagined heat as a ‘subtle’ but tangible fluid called caloric, and devised
instruments (calorimeters) to measure it

BENJAMIN THOMPSON, COUNT RUMFORD

1753–1814
American-British scientist whose experiments on artillery led him to develop a theory of heat caused
by motion and friction

30-SECOND TEXT
Philip Ball

Heat energy is present in many processes, whether unwanted or to

produce an effect such as melting metal.
KINETIC ENERGY
the 30-second theory

‘Kinetic’ comes from the Greek word for motion, and the kinetic energy of an
object is simply the energy it possesses by virtue of its motion. The amount of
kinetic energy in joules is equal to half the object’s mass in kilograms,
multiplied by the square of its speed in metres per second. Thus a small, fast-
moving object can have as much kinetic energy as a massive, slow-moving
one. A 50-tonne tank travelling at 10 m/s (32.8 ft/s) has a kinetic energy of 2.5
million joules, but so does a 5 kilogram (11 lb) shell fired at 1,000 m/s (3,280
ft/sec) from the tank’s gun. Explosive energy is another form of kinetic energy,
deriving from the motion of the blast fragments flying off in all directions. All
types of motion contribute to an object’s kinetic energy, not just motion in a
straight line. For example, there is kinetic energy associated with the rotation of
an electric motor, with the back-and-forth movement of the pistons in a car
engine and with the random motions of atoms and molecules. In this last case,
kinetic energy on a microscopic scale is perceived as heat on a macroscopic
scale. In fact, the temperature of an object is simply a measure of the average
kinetic energy of its constituent molecules.

3-SECOND THRASH
Kinetic energy is associated with the motion of an object; its value rises in proportion to the mass of
the object and the square of its velocity.

3-MINUTE THOUGHT
Einstein’s famous equation E=mc2 is usually interpreted in terms of the ‘rest mass’ energy associated
with a stationary object. However, the equation is also true in the case of a moving object, for which
the kinetic energy must be added to the rest mass energy. Since the speed of light, c, is constant, this
means the effective mass, m, of the object must increase as its speed increases.

RELATED TOPICS
See also
HEAT
POTENTIAL ENERGY
CONSERVATION OF ENERGY

3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
GASPARD DE CORIOLIS
1792–1843
French physicist who derived the 1/2mv2 formula for the energy of motion

WILLIAM THOMSON, LORD KELVIN

1824–1907
Scottish physicist who coined the term ‘kinetic energy’ and showed its relation to temperature

30-SECOND TEXT
Andrew May

Although a tank shell has far less mass than a tank, it has the same
kinetic energy as it travels at a much higher velocity.
POTENTIAL ENERGY
the 30-second theory

An apple falling from a tree possesses kinetic energy (KE) from its movement.
Yet nothing gave it that energy – it wasn’t pushed off the tree – so it must
already have had the same energy when it was hanging on the branch. This is
an example of potential energy (PE) – in this case gravitational potential
energy, due to the apple’s elevated position in the Earth’s gravitational field.
Near to the Earth’s surface, gravitational potential energy is proportional to an
object’s mass and its height above ground; at greater distances the formula is
more complicated. One of the reasons spacecraft require such high launch
velocities is that they need to trade kinetic energy for potential energy as they
climb up out of Earth’s gravity well. Electric fields also give rise to potential
energy, in an analogous way to gravitational fields. This is particularly
important on molecular scales, because it means there is potential energy
locked up in the electrostatic bonds between atoms. The energy released during
a chemical reaction – for example, when fuel is burned or food is metabolized
– comes from this binding energy, which is higher in the initial configuration of
its molecules than the final one. On a more powerful scale, the same is true of
nuclear reactions. Thus both chemical energy and nuclear energy are ultimately
different forms of potential energy.

3-SECOND THRASH
Potential energy is energy that is inherent in an object, for example due to its position in a
gravitational field or the structure of its chemical bonds.

3-MINUTE THOUGHT
Potential energy (PE) is only defined in relative terms, so the point at which it is zero can be chosen
wherever it is most convenient. For example, aeronautical engineers usually think of PE as being zero
at ground level and increasing with increasing altitude. Astronomers, on the other hand, tend to think
of PE as a negative quantity, which eventually rises to zero at an infinite distance from the Earth. This
may sound bizarre, but it simplifies many calculations.

RELATED TOPICS
See also
CHEMICAL ENERGY
CONSERVATION OF ENERGY
GRAVITY

3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
DANIEL BERNOULLI
1700–82
Swiss mathematician who recognized that the sum of KE and PE remains constant

WILLIAM RANKINE
1820–72
Scottish engineer who coined the term ‘potential energy’ in the context of steam engines

30-SECOND TEXT
Andrew May

As a coin drops from a high building, its potential energy due to its
position in the Earth’s gravitational field is converted into kinetic
energy of movement.
JAMES PRESCOTT JOULE

‘Joule’ is probably more familiar as the unit of

energy than a man. In many ways, James Joule
came from the tradition of engineers like James
Watt, pragmatically looking for ways to improve
their technology. Joule’s father, Benjamin, was a
successful brewer who paid for his son to be
tutored by the Manchester-based originator of
modern atomic theory, John Dalton. James Joule
remained a brewer first, joining the management
of the brewery in his early 20s, and a scientist
second. Like any industrialist who employed
engines, he wanted to get the most for his money
and began a study of the amount of work
different sources of energy could produce.
Work in the physics sense is just energy being
moved around. Joule was interested to discover
if the new electric motors could provide a more
efficient solution than the steam engines
employed in the Joule’s Brewery. In
experimenting with electricity, he came up with
his first major contribution, Joule’s law, that the
heat produced by a current in a wire is proportional to the square of the current multiplied by the
resistance of the wire. From his viewpoint, the key outcome of his electrical work was the discovery
that coal was more economical than electricity.
Putting electricity and heat alongside each other inspired him to think about how different forms
of energy are connected. At the time, heat was considered to be the flow of a special fluid called
caloric, which moved from hot to cold objects, and could not be made or destroyed. But Joule was
increasingly of the opinion that the energy of electricity or mechanical work could be converted into
heat. He put together a range of experiments to demonstrate this, most elegantly with a device where
a falling weight, producing mechanical work from potential energy, turned a paddle wheel in a
container of water, increasing the temperature of the water.
Building on his training with Dalton, Joule reasoned that such heating could only happen if the
heat of a body reflected the kinetic energy of the molecules in it. At the time this was controversial,
with the existence of atoms and molecules still in doubt, especially as Joule’s theory meant that the
particles had to bounce off each other without losing any energy, something that never happened
with ordinary objects. Many rejected Joule’s ideas, but now the Salford brewer is considered a key
figure in understanding energy.

Brian Clegg

1818
Born in Salford, Manchester, UK

1840
Begins comparison of electricity and steam for doing work
1841
Establishes Joule’s law relating heat to the electrical current and resistance

1844
Writes the key paper On the Mechanical Equivalent of Heat

1847
Marries Amelia Grimes

1850
Becomes a Fellow of the Royal Society

1852
Working with William Thomson, discovers that an expanding gas reduces in temperature

1854
Amelia dies in childbirth, together with their son Benjamin Arthur

1855
Joule’s Brewery put up for sale when Joule’s father retired

1872
Becomes president of the British Association for the Advancement of Science

1878
Queen Victoria grants the ailing Joule a special pension

1889
Dies in Sale, Manchester, UK

1948
The SI unit of energy or work was named the joule, symbol J, by the General Conference on
Weights and Measures
CHEMICAL ENERGY
the 30-second theory

We are chemically powered, and so, on the whole, is the world we have made.
Our bodies run on chemical energy harvested from substances like sugar; the
energy is partly converted into forms that the molecular machines called
enzymes can use to perform the body’s chemistry. Human societies have long
depended on stores of chemical energy to meet its needs: wood, coal, oil and
gas, from which energy can be released by burning. Chemical energy is the
currency of life: plants use sunlight to generate and store it, and each
biochemical reaction is an energetic transaction. Yet chemical energy is a
complex thing. It is often said to be stored in the bonds that link atoms into
molecules, but it’s not so easy to say how the making and breaking of bonds,
involving rearrangements of electrons, translates into energy changes.
Chemical reactions may do work by changes in pressure and volume as well as
molecules’ internal energy, and the direction of chemical change is determined
by the so-called free energy, which also involves changes in entropy. So the
energetics of chemical change demand the subtle accountancy of
thermodynamic theory. And the stability of energy-rich substances is also a
matter of reaction speed: coal stores energy for aeons, while dynamite is apt to
release it all too readily.

3-SECOND THRASH
Chemical energy is stored in molecules and released by changes in the ways their atoms are linked
and arranged.

3-MINUTE THOUGHT
Some of the most energy-dense chemical compounds known are high explosives such as TNT, RDX
and PETN – the latter two are ingredients of Semtex. They are substances that release their chemical
energy in a fast, supersonic outburst. Typically they contain oxygen atoms to promote rapid
combustion of carbon-rich parts, as well as nitrogen atoms, which release a lot of energy when they
combine in pairs as nitrogen molecules, with very strong bonds.

RELATED TOPICS
See also
ATP
OXIDATION
BURNING

3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
ALFRED NOBEL
1833–96
Swedish chemist whose invention of dynamite and gelignite created the wealth behind the Nobel
Prizes

JOSIAH WILLARD GIBBS

1839–1903
American scientist who laid the foundations for modern thermodynamics

30-SECOND TEXT
Philip Ball

Chemical energy is released in a vast number of reactions, from the

burning of fossil fuels such as gas, to the energy plants use to grow.
NUCLEAR ENERGY
the 30-second theory

Nuclear energy powers the Sun and the stars and warms the Earth’s interior.
Nuclear energy is released from the nuclei at the heart of atoms. Nuclei are
composed of protons and neutrons – except for the hydrogen nucleus, which is
one lone proton. All the other elements have more than one proton and these
positively charged particles repel each other. This electrical repulsion is
overcome by the strong nuclear force – one of the fundamental forces of nature
– that binds together the protons and neutrons. The field created by the strong
nuclear force makes up much of the mass of protons and neutrons. This mass
can also be thought of as energy and it is sometimes called the binding energy
of the nucleus. The amount of binding energy needed depends on the size of
the nucleus. Elements with bigger, heavier nuclei up to iron need progressively
less energy to bind each proton and neutron into the nucleus. The nuclei of
atoms heavier than iron need progressively more energy to bind each proton
and neutron into the nucleus. Combining the nuclei of lighter elements (nuclear
fusion) and splitting the nuclei of heavier elements (nuclear fission) both result
in the release of some of this binding energy.

3-SECOND THRASH
The source of nuclear energy is the binding energy from the strong nuclear force that holds together
the nucleus of an atom.

3-MINUTE THOUGHT
Mass contains a lot of energy and nuclear energy illustrates just how much. Particles in the nucleus of
atoms surrender tiny amounts of their mass associated with the strong nuclear force – but this results
in the release of huge amounts of energy, provided by vast numbers of nuclear reactions. Nuclear
fusion powers the Sun while nuclear fission warms the Earth’s interior.

RELATED TOPICS
See also
INSIDE A STAR
FISSION
FUSION

3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
ERNEST RUTHERFORD
1871–1937
New Zealand-born physicist, who discovered the proton and realized that some powerful force must
glue these positively charged particles together in the atomic nucleus

ENRICO FERMI
1901–54
Italian-American physicist who supervised the construction of the world’s first experimental nuclear
fission reactor in Chicago in 1942

30-SECOND TEXT
Leon Clifford

Fermi and Rutherford were key figures in discoveries involving the

nuclear energy that powers the stars and heats the Earth’s core.
MASS ENERGY
the 30-second theory

Mass and energy are one and the same thing. Mass can be converted into
energy and vice versa. Mass can be thought of as the amount of matter within a
body and energy as the capacity of a physical system to do work. At first sight
they seem very different concepts, and that is what scientists thought at the end
of the nineteenth century when they treated mass and energy as separate
entities, each subject to its own conservation law. But the realization, following
the emergence of James Clerk Maxwell’s equations of electromagnetism, that
electric fields possess momentum hinted that energy has some kind of mass
associated with it. Hendrik Lorentz’s theoretical idea that mass increases as
bodies approach the speed of light questioned the law of conservation of mass.
Then in 1905, German-born physicist Albert Einstein published his special
theory of relativity, which showed that mass and energy can be traded with
each other according to the relationship since made famous by the equation
E=mc2 where E is energy, m is mass and c represents the speed of light.
Because the square of the speed of light is so large, the implication of this
equation is that a tiny amount of mass can release huge amounts of energy.
This is the secret of nuclear weapons and the reason stars shine.

3-SECOND THRASH
Mass and energy are two sides of the same coin, as Einstein showed in his famous E=mc2 equation.

3-MINUTE THOUGHT
Light is electromagnetic radiation but it also has momentum. So light falling on an object exerts a tiny
pressure. We see this effect in our solar system: radiation from the Sun gently sweeps dust particles
out into deep space and aligns the dust tails of comets to point away from the Sun. Light pressure
could one day be used to power spacecraft equipped with giant solar sails.

RELATED TOPICS
See also
WHAT IS ENERGY?
CONSERVATION OF ENERGY
INFLATION

3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
JAMES CLERK MAXWELL
1831–79
Scottish physicist who demonstrated the connection between magnetism and electricity

ALBERT EINSTEIN
1879–1955
German-born physicist who first demonstrated the mathematical relationship between energy and
mass made famous by the equation E=mc2

30-SECOND TEXT
Leon Clifford

As Einstein predicted, in nuclear reactions and the interaction of

matter and antimatter, mass and energy are interchanged.
CONSERVATION OF ENERGY
the 30-second theory

Energy is conserved. It can neither be created nor destroyed – merely changed

into different forms. This is a fundamental law of physics. Since mass is
equivalent to energy, we can either think about mass as a form of energy or we
can rephrase this law in terms of the conservation of mass-energy; they amount
to the same thing. The law of conservation of energy states that the total
amount of energy (including mass) in a closed or isolated system is conserved
over time – that is, it remains constant. Thus the energy contained in the fuel
burned by the internal combustion engine of a car is transformed into the
kinetic energy of the car’s motion, the heat the engine radiates, the friction of
the tyres on the road, the noise the vehicle generates and the movement of the
exhaust gases – as well as the vibration in the chassis and other emissions of
energy. If we carefully measure all these different forms of energy emanating
from a car, we will see that the total exactly matches the amount of chemical
energy released from the fuel – none of it disappears and no additional energy
mysteriously appears.

3-SECOND THRASH
You cannot make energy and you cannot get rid of energy; you can only change it from one form to
another.

3-MINUTE THOUGHT
Conservation of energy is one of a number of fundamental conservation laws in physics. Momentum is
also conserved, which is why snooker balls bounce off one another. Angular momentum is another
quantity that is conserved and is the reason skaters spin faster when they pull in their arms. These are
all manifestations of deeper mathematical relationships involving the existence of symmetries in the
equations describing reality.

RELATED TOPICS
See also
WHAT IS ENERGY?
MASS ENERGY
INFLATION

3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
WILLIAM RANKINE
1820–72
Scottish engineer who developed the idea that energy is conserved even when it is transformed – for
example, between potential energy and kinetic energy

EMMY NOETHER
1882–1935
German mathematician who proved that the conservation laws emerge from symmetry

30-SECOND TEXT
Leon Clifford

In a pendulum, energy is converted between potential and kinetic

energy, also generating heat: overall the energy is conserved.
OceanofPDF.com
NATURAL ENERGY
NATURAL ENERGY
GLOSSARY

antigravity Unlike electromagnetism, gravity is always attractive. Antigravity

describes a hypothetical ability to nullify gravity or repel matter gravitationally.

Big Bang The best accepted theory of the origin of the universe is the ‘Big
Bang’ – the universe began as an infinitely dense point of energy that
expanded. The term was coined by astronomer Fred Hoyle. Big Bang is often
used to describe the origin of the universe, but strictly it is the point in time at
which the universe began to expand.

chlorophyll Several green pigments found in plant cells, which absorb light to
enable photosynthesis.

electromagnetism During the nineteenth century, it became clear that

electricity and magnetism were intimately related; Scottish physicist James
Clerk Maxwell showed them to be parts of a single phenomenon:
electromagnetism.

escape velocity Velocity at which an object travelling away from a massive

body will escape that body’s gravitational pull without any further force being
applied. The escape velocity of the Earth is around 11.2 km/sec (7 miles/sec).

fundamental field Physicists use several models to describe the fundamental

building blocks of nature, including waves and particles, but often the most
productive approach is the field.

general relativity Einstein’s general theory of relativity provides a

mathematical description of the way that matter interacts with spacetime,
causing gravity. Einstein struggled with the mathematics and raced with
German mathematician David Hilbert to complete the equations.

gravity waves One of the predictions of Einstein’s general theory of relativity

was that when massive objects move back and forth they should generate
waves in the gravitational field. Detection of such waves was announced in
2016.
Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle A major component of quantum physics,
the uncertainty principle says that there are linked properties in nature, such as
momentum and position, or energy and time, where the more precisely we
know one property of a quantum particle, the less accurately we can know the
other.

Higgs field In the 1960s it seemed that an additional fundamental field was
needed to explain why some particles had mass. Named after one of the
theory’s developers, Peter Higgs, this is the Higgs field. The discovery of the
Higgs boson was strong evidence for the existence of the field.

nuclear reactions within the Sun The Sun is powered by nuclear fusion
reactions. These are reactions in which atomic nuclei merge to form a heavier
atom, releasing energy. The dominant reaction in the Sun is hydrogen nuclei
fusing to form helium.

photosynthesis Process by which plants convert the energy of sunlight into

chemical energy.

shape/geometry of universe To develop his theory of general relativity,

Einstein made use of the mathematics of curved space. This is difficult to
envisage, as it is not a curvature within space, but of space itself. In principle,
the space of the universe could be curved, but it appears to be flat.

spacetime Physicist Hermann Minkowski devised the concept of spacetime, a

four-dimensional combination of space and time that is essential to
understanding Einstein’s special theory of relativity.

steady state theory The main opposing theory to the Big Bang in the 1950s
and 1960s, steady state suggested that the universe had no beginning but was
constantly expanding with new matter coming into being.

theory of relativity Einstein’s extension of Newton’s laws of motion to include

light’s constant velocity. The result is that it is not possible to separate space
and time, as movement influences the passage of time. Unlike general
relativity, the special theory of relativity doesn’t include gravity.

vacuum energy Because of quantum effects, even empty space has a certain
amount of energy. There have been attempts to find a way to harness this
‘vacuum energy’, but as this would require a site with less than the minimum
possible energy these efforts are unlikely to succeed.

weak nuclear force A fundamental force of nature, along with gravity,

electromagnetism and the strong nuclear force. The weak force is involved in
the decay of atomic nuclei.
GRAVITY

the 30-second theory

Gravity is a fundamental force of nature just as is electromagnetism. Gravity is

often described as a force that attracts masses together, but mass and energy are
equivalent and so gravity is a force that acts between anything with energy,
even if that energy is wrapped up in mass. Gravity is an attractive force that
weakens with distance but has an infinite range. Anything with mass – or
energy – gives rise to a gravitational field, which is described mathematically
in Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity as a curvature in spacetime, the
fabric of the universe. Gravitational fields are a source of energy called
gravitational potential energy. When objects with mass are pulled towards each
other by gravity, the gravitational potential energy is converted into the kinetic
energy of movement. We use this practically on Earth in hydroelectricity,
where gravitational potential energy is converted into the kinetic energy of
falling water, which is in turn converted into electrical energy. In extreme
cosmological events, such as the collision of two black holes, gravitational
potential energy can be released in the form of gravity waves – which can be
thought of as rippling undulations in spacetime. So gravity and energy are
intimately related: gravity is a property of energy – it acts on energy and
gravitational fields give rise to energy.

3-SECOND THRASH
Gravity is a fundamental force that acts on energy, provides a source of energy and helps to bind the
universe together.

3-MINUTE THOUGHT
The attractive force of gravity causes masses to accelerate towards each other and acquire kinetic
energy. As they move closer, gravitational attraction grows, the acceleration due to gravity increases
and the kinetic energy of the system accumulates. But are we getting something for nothing? Doesn’t
this contradict the law of energy conservation? Not if we treat the gravitational potential energy as
‘negative energy’ that cancels out the positive kinetic energy of motion.

RELATED TOPICS
See also
MASS ENERGY
INFLATION
INSIDE A STAR

3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
ISAAC NEWTON
1643–1727
English physicist who first described gravity in scientific and mathematical terms

DAVID HILBERT
1862–1943
German mathematician who derived the field equations of general relativity, the theory of gravitation,
from first principles

30-SECOND TEXT
Leon Clifford

Einstein explained the gravitational force as a warp in space and

time that keeps planets in their orbits and makes the apple fall.
INFLATION

the 30-second theory

Our universe is believed to have undergone an almost instantaneous expansion

when it was only a tiny fraction of a second old, perhaps just 10-37 seconds
after it came into existence. In an instant, a tiny subatomic volume of space
ballooned into an embryonic universe. Spacetime expanded in volume by at
least 10,000 trillion trillion times – a factor of 1026. This rapid, faster-than-light
expansion of the very fabric of space lasted just 10-35 seconds, which is less
time than it takes light to travel across an atomic nucleus. It is what
cosmologists call inflation. Inflation explains why different parts of our
universe are so similar even though they are separated by vast distances and
how the distribution of galaxies that we see in the universe came into being.
You and I and all the planets and stars we see around us today are made from
matter condensed out of energy created in this brief inflationary moment. And
this energy – seemingly created out of nothing – came from the gravitational
field that built up an offsetting stock of ‘negative energy’ as the universe
inflated. The ‘negative energy’ accumulated in the gravitational field balances
the mass and energy found in the universe, preserving the law of conservation
of energy. Inflation remains a theory that some scientists question, but it
appears consistent with what astronomers observe.

3-SECOND THRASH
Cosmic inflation expanded the size of our newly created universe by at least 10,000 trillion trillion
times in an instant, causing the Big Bang.

3-MINUTE THOUGHT
Inflation may be eternal. Countless trillions of tiny bubbles of spacetime may be inflating into whole
new universes every second and for all of time. If true, then the Big Bang is not the beginning of our
universe but just the end of inflation in our part of a much vaster universe. And so there could be
infinite copies of our universe, each with an identical Earth and each with a version of you – reading
this.

RELATED TOPICS
See also
MASS ENERGY
CONSERVATION OF ENERGY
GRAVITY

3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
EDWIN HUBBLE
1889–1953
American astronomer who realized that the universe was expanding, which implied that it must have
had a beginning

ALAN GUTH
born 1947
American physicist who came up with the idea of inflation in 1980

30-SECOND TEXT
Leon Clifford

In a tiny fraction of a second, the early universe is thought to have

expanded far faster than the speed of light in the process known as
inflation.
INSIDE A STAR

the 30-second theory

Our Sun is the ultimate source of energy that drives our climate and powers life
on Earth. And, like all stars, its light and warmth comes from the continual
conversion of mass into energy deep within its core through the process of
nuclear fusion. Nuclear fusion converts hydrogen into helium and other heavier
elements, releasing vast amounts of energy. Stars are massive, with powerful
gravitational fields. The mass of a star is pulled inwards by this gravity,
creating enormous pressure at its core. This pressure overcomes the repulsive
electrical force between protons – tiny particles that are the atomic nuclei of
hydrogen atoms. Protons are squeezed together close enough for the strong
nuclear force – one of the fundamental forces of nature – to take over and bind
them together. A series of nuclear reactions results in the formation of helium
nuclei: each nucleus consists of two protons and two neutrons. The field
associated with the strong nuclear force provides the source of the energy
released during this process. This field makes up most of the mass of protons
and neutrons and when they bind together during fusion they give up some of
this mass, which is released as energy.

3-SECOND THRASH
Inside every star is a vast natural nuclear fusion reactor that is a source of light and heat.

3-MINUTE THOUGHT
The heat generated by fusion prevents a star collapsing in on itself due to gravity. For much of its
lifetime, a star is balanced between the opposing pressures of its hot gas plasma pushing outwards,
and the force of gravity pulling inwards. Eventually all the nuclear fuel will run out and then the
inexorable force of gravity will determine the fate of the star.

RELATED TOPICS
See also
NUCLEAR ENERGY
MASS ENERGY
FUSION
3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
JEAN PERRIN
1870–1942
French physicist who first proposed that solar energy came from nuclear reactions involving hydrogen

FRED HOYLE
1915–2001
English astronomer who showed how the nuclear reactions in stars produced elements heavier than
hydrogen

30-SECOND TEXT
Leon Clifford

In a star, hydrogen nuclei are fused by the immense temperature

and pressure in a multistage process producing helium, the next
heaviest element.
LIVING THINGS

the 30-second theory

On a planet teeming with life, there is no getting away from the energy present
in living things as they move, interact and breed. We often describe an
individual as being ‘full of energy’ and at one time life was thought to be
dependent on a specific type of energy called vis essentialis or the ‘vital spark’.
This concept is still taken seriously in some Eastern traditions, but science has
shown that the energy of life is not an entirely new form of energy, but rather
chemical and potential energy put to use by the complex mechanisms of a
living organism. The initial source of the energy in almost all living things
remains the Sun. Plants make use of this energy directly through
photosynthesis, where the energy in photons of light is converted to a chemical
form, which can then be used in the survival, growth and reproduction of the
plant. Organisms that don’t take energy directly from the Sun usually make use
of this stored chemical energy by consuming organic matter, although some
take their energy by other means, for instance, from the geothermal energy of
vents deep under the oceans.

3-SECOND THRASH
Plants take in energy from the Sun through photosynthesis and provide a source of energy for other
organisms when they act as food.

3-MINUTE THOUGHT
Although photosynthesis appears similar to the action of a photoelectric cell, converting light energy
into a usable form, it is far more complex, with chemical processes that can be blisteringly fast,
including the quickest chemical reactions on record. Energy from light is captured by special
pigments, most frequently the familiar green chlorophyll, and transferred in chemical form to the
photosynthetic reaction centre, where the storage reaction produces the oxygen we breathe as a by-
product.

RELATED TOPICS
See also
ATP
OXIDATION
BIOFUELS

3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
JAN INGENHOUSZ
1730–99
Dutch scientist who demonstrated that light was necessary for photosynthesis

MELVIN CALVIN
1911–97
American biochemist who, with Andrew Benson and James Bassham, identified the light-driven
reactions behind photosynthesis, known as the Calvin cycle

30-SECOND TEXT
Brian Clegg

The complex food chains of living organisms are all based on

transferring chemical energy, mostly originally produced by
photosynthesis from the Sun.
DARK ENERGY

the 30-second theory

Dark energy is believed to make up almost 70 per cent of the mass of our
universe but scientists do not know exactly what it is. They know that it – or at
least something – exists because the expansion of our universe is accelerating
rather than slowing down, as you would expect it to do under the influence of
gravity; and so, if our theory of gravity is correct, some force must be at work
counteracting gravity. Dark energy is the name given to the source of that
mysterious force. The acceleration of the universe’s expansion has been
confirmed by two sets of careful measurements, one looking at faraway
exploding stars and one studying the distribution of thousands of galaxies.
Furthermore, other measurements confirm that the geometry or shape of our
universe is what scientists call ‘flat’, which tells them how much mass is
distributed throughout the cosmos; the trouble is we can only find around 30
per cent of what theoretically should be there. In other words, most of the mass
of the universe is missing. The mass associated with the amount of dark energy
needed to account for the observed acceleration of the expansion of the
universe matches up with the amount needed to plug the missing mass gap
predicted by the geometry. The existence of dark energy with such an effect is
consistent with the description of gravitation contained in Albert Einstein’s
general theory of relativity.

3-SECOND THRASH
Dark energy acts like a kind of antigravity, accelerating the expansion of the universe. It is believed to
make up most of the mass of universe – but no one knows exactly what it is.

3-MINUTE THOUGHT
Everything we see in our universe is made from what we might call ‘normal’ matter and ‘normal’
energy, the stuff that forms the basis of our physics. Yet this is believed to comprise just 5 per cent of
the mass of the universe. In recent years, physicists have realized that there is, literally, more to the
universe than meets the eye. What else is out there?

RELATED TOPICS
See also
GRAVITY
INFLATION
THE LIFE CYCLE OF THE UNIVERSE

3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
SAUL PERLMUTTER, ADAM RIESS & BRIAN SCHMIDT
born 1959, born 1969 & born 1967
American astrophysicists who discovered that the expansion of our universe is accelerating, from
studying supernovae

ALBERT EINSTEIN
1879–1955
German-born scientist who developed our best theory of gravity: general relativity, which predicts the
existence of dark energy

30-SECOND TEXT
Leon Clifford

Space is expanding, but this expansion itself is accelerating due to

the mysterious dark energy.
ALAN GUTH

In modern physics, collaboration is the name of

the game. But there is still room for individual
ideas, and Alan Harvey Guth was responsible for
a key contribution to modern cosmology –
rescuing the Big Bang and extending our
thinking about energy and the universe.
Guth was brought up in New Jersey, where
his father owned a small store. He picked up an
interest in science at school, and cites TV shows
and books like The Universe and Dr Einstein by
Lincoln Barnett as his inspiration. He studied
physics at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology (MIT), where he was ‘fascinated by
the idea that the world could be described by
precise mathematical laws, so I chose physics
because it was the branch of science most
closely connected with the quest to discover the
fundamental laws’. This was a difficult time for
physics postdocs, and Guth had a wide range of
short posts before he settled into a long-term
position.
In the 1960s, the Big Bang theory had seen
off its main competitor – steady state. However,
by the 1970s, the Big Bang had its own issues. Critics argued that the universe was too uniform for
the Big Bang theory to be correct – widely separate areas would not have had the opportunity to
come into equilibrium. When Guth first developed an idea that might solve this issue, it was
effectively a spare-time activity – he was working in particle physics at Cornell University. But it
was after he moved to Stanford that he formally published his concept of cosmic inflation.
His idea of a sudden, incredibly fast expansion of the early universe that switched on and then off
again acted as a patch to the Big Bang theory that made it match observation. To make it work, Guth
employed vacuum energy, and required an extra fundamental field, which Guth hoped would be the
Higgs field, though there is no evidence to suggest this. After his early success, Guth went on to
cover a wide range of concepts in theoretical physics. He had always been interested in magnetic
monopoles – particles with a single magnetic ‘charge’ where all the ones we have come across have
both positive and negative poles – and continued to work on these, alongside concepts that included
the theoretical time machines predicted by general relativity. Inevitably inflation has been a major
part of his work. At the time of writing, Alan Guth is still working, having returned to his alma
mater, MIT.

Brian Clegg

1947
Born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, United States

1968
Graduates from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he later receives his doctorate

1971
Moves to Princeton University, where he works on particle physics

1971
Marries Susan Tisch

1974
Moves to Columbia University

1977
Moves to Cornell University, where he does his first work on the subject of inflation

1978
Becomes aware of some of the problems with the Big Bang theory

1979
Begins to work on a possible solution based on inflation

1979
Moves to the Stanford Linear Accelerator Laboratory

1980
Submits first article on the concept of cosmic inflation

1980
Moves back to MIT

2009
Awarded the Isaac Newton Medal by the Institute of Physics

2012
Awarded the Fundamental Physics prize
ZERO-POINT ENERGY

the 30-second theory

Quantum mechanics, our theory of the very small, predicts that the vacuum of
empty space is filled with energy. The existence of this naturally occurring
energy, known as zero-point energy, arises as a result of Heisenberg’s
uncertainty principle, which shows that at the quantum level pairs of values
like time and energy cannot be known exactly. Zero-point energy is the
absolute minimum amount of energy remaining in a quantum mechanical
system after all other energy has been removed and temperature has been
reduced to the absolute zero point. The uncertainty principle predicts a certain
fuzziness to the quantum world that enables tiny fluctuations to occur in the
fields that fill space, such as those due to electromagnetism and the strong and
weak nuclear forces. It is these inescapable oscillations that give rise to this
energy. Quantum mechanics predicts that all space is filled with these
oscillations so that although the energy involved at any point is small, the total
energy is very large. Indeed, the density of this zero-point energy has been
estimated to be vastly greater than the energy density due to nuclear fusion at
the Sun’s core. The trouble is, none of this energy can be used – because any
effort to extract zero-point energy would reduce the energy of the vacuum to
below the minimum required by the uncertainty principle.

3-SECOND THRASH
Space is not as empty as it seems for, according to quantum mechanics, its vacuum is full of energy.

3-MINUTE THOUGHT
Quantum mechanics, our theory of the very small, is weird. Not only does it predict the existence of
zero-point energy but this means that particles can flick into existence apparently out of nothing. They
get their mass by borrowing it from the zero-point energy that fills the vacuum of empty space.
Indeed, the subatomic world is believed to be a seething, foaming mass of particles popping into and
out of existence.

RELATED TOPICS
See also
NUCLEAR ENERGY
MASS ENERGY
DARK ENERGY

3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
WERNER HEISENBERG
1901–76
German theoretical physicist who developed the uncertainty principle, which predicts the existence of
zero-point energy

HENDRIK CASIMIR
1909–2000
Dutch physicist who gave his name to the Casimir effect, a phenomenon believed to be related to the
existence of zero-point energy

30-SECOND TEXT
Leon Clifford

Quantum mechanics allows very short timescale bursts of energy,

which provide an unusable foam of background energy throughout
the universe.
WHERE DID IT ALL COME FROM?

the 30-second theory

Energy and matter are the stuff of the universe. The best current theory for the
origins of the universe tells us that it expanded in a process known as the Big
Bang, but does not explain how the universe came into being in the first place.
Given that this process is unknown, we can’t assume that conservation of
energy applies. It can seem remarkable that all the energy (including all the
matter in the universe) we see today came from very little. This is sometimes
explained by saying that gravity provides negative energy. Imagine a high-
speed object shooting away from the Earth at escape velocity. Gravity slows it
to a stop, but it doesn’t return. Now it has no kinetic or potential energy.
Conservation of energy tells us it must, therefore, have had no energy on the
surface of the Earth – so its high kinetic energy must have been countered by a
high negative potential energy from the Earth’s gravitational field. A physicist
will tell you that this picture is flawed, because general relativity means that
gravitational energy is not an absolute. General relativity gives a more complex
mathematical view – but still means that energy conservation is not an issue for
the universe.

3-SECOND THRASH
Although it seems impossible that all the energy in the universe came from ‘nothing’, in principle,
physics suggests that this is a feasible option.

3-MINUTE THOUGHT
Some theories of what happened ‘before the Big Bang’ do not present the same problem of
understanding as the conventional Big Bang theory, as they posit the existence of plenty of energy and
matter before the Big Bang and don’t require the confusing concept of the energy in the universe
emerging from nowhere. An example is the ekpyrotic theory, where our current universe was formed
as a result of a collision of two pre-existing ‘branes’ in a larger multidimensional meta-universe.

RELATED TOPICS
See also
WHAT IS ENERGY?
CONSERVATION OF ENERGY
GRAVITY

3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
ALBERT EINSTEIN
1879–1955
German physicist whose general theory of relativity drives the Big Bang theory

GEORGES LEMAÎTRE
1894–1966
Belgian physicist who proposed the expansion of the universe that led to the Big Bang theory

FRED HOYLE
1915–2001
English astronomer who coined the term ‘Big Bang’

30-SECOND TEXT
Brian Clegg

Through inflation and into the formation of early matter and,

eventually, galaxies, the universe evolved from the Big Bang.
OceanofPDF.com
STORING ENERGY
STORING ENERGY
GLOSSARY

base In genetics, a base (more strictly a nucleobase) is one of the five

compounds found in pairs in the ‘tread’ part of the spiral staircase shape of
DNA, or providing links between sections of the simpler structure of the
related molecule RNA. The bases are adenine, cytosine, guanine, thymine (in
DNA only) and uracil (in RNA only).

electrochemical cell Device that uses chemical energy to generate electricity

by freeing up electrons to flow through a conductor. Common examples of
electrochemical cells are batteries and fuel cells.

electrode/electrolyte An electrode is a conductor, such as a piece of metal or

carbon, that is given an electrical charge in a cell or other device. An
electrolyte is a substance, usually a fluid or gel, containing ions. The ions
conduct electricity by moving through the electrolyte, attracted to electrodes
that dip into it.

heavy elements The weight of an atom is primarily determined by the number

of particles – protons and neutrons – that make up its central nucleus. Elements
from hydrogen to iron are considered light, while those with more particles in
the nucleus are called heavy.

hydroelectricity The generation of electricity as a result of the movement of

water, typically by building a dam and allowing the flow of water as it drops
downhill to run through a turbine, turning its blades to produce electricity. The
process converts potential energy via kinetic energy to mechanical energy and
finally electrical energy.

ions Atoms that have an overall positive charge due to losing one or more
electrons, or an overall negative charge as a result of gaining electrons.

isotopes The chemical properties of an element are determined by the number

of electrons it has, which is identical to the number of protons in the nucleus.
However, atoms of the same element can have differing numbers of neutrons in
the nucleus. Atoms with the same number of protons but different numbers of
neutrons, such as uranium-235 (143 neutrons) and uranium-238 (146 neutrons),
are called isotopes.

lead-acid battery The first type of battery that was capable of being charged
multiple times, the lead-acid battery (or more accurately the lead-acid cell)
consists of two lead electrodes dipped into a sulphuric acid electrolyte. When
the battery is charged, the outside of one electrode is oxidized to lead oxide,
while during discharge the electrodes both become covered in lead sulphate.

lithium-ion battery Rechargeable batteries most commonly used in electronic

devices such as mobile phones. Such cells typically consist of a carbon
electrode and a lithium alloy oxide electrode in an electrolyte of lithium salts.

phosphate group A group of atoms with a single atom of the element

phosphorous linked to four atoms of oxygen. Phosphate groups are notably
found in adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the compound used by living
organisms to store energy in chemical form.

respiration At the most basic level, respiration is the mechanism by which a

living cell converts chemical nutrients into energy. At a higher level, the term is
often used to describe the mechanism used to carry oxygen and carbon dioxide
around a multicellular organism.

sugar An organic molecule such as glucose, fructose and sucrose, one of a

family of sweet-tasting water-soluble carbohydrates (molecules containing
carbon, hydrogen and oxygen).

uranium-235/uranium-238 The two most significant isotopes of uranium used

in nuclear reactors and atomic bombs. The numbers 235 and 238 refer to the
total number of protons and neutrons. Each has the same number of protons –
92 – but uranium-238 has three more neutrons than uranium-235.
ATP
the 30-second theory

From bacteria to human beings, adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is the currency

of energy in all living cells. Every process that goes on in your body – such as
muscle contraction and the making of new proteins – requires energy sourced
from ATP. ATP is a comparatively small, soluble molecule and so is able to
diffuse quickly and supply energy wherever it’s needed. It’s made up of three
distinct parts: a base (adenine), a sugar (ribose) and three phosphate groups
linked together like a tail. These phosphate groups have the formula –a
phosphorus atom bonded to four oxygen atoms. A large amount of energy is
released when the relatively unstable bond between the last phosphate group
and the one before is broken, resulting in adenosine diphosphate (ADP) and
phosphate (typically denoted by Pi). It has been estimated that we ‘consume’
our body weight in ATP every single day, which is all the more amazing when
you consider that at any time we contain only about 60 grams (2 oz) of the
stuff. This is possible because ADP and Pi can be recombined to form ATP
again if the necessary energy is supplied. Both plants and animals use glucose
to remake ATP through the process of respiration. This takes place in the
mitochondria, the so-called powerhouses of the cell. A single glucose molecule
can be used to produce up to 38 ATP molecules.

3-SECOND THRASH
ATP is the constantly recycled currency of energy that is ultimately used to pay for every living
process.

3-MINUTE THOUGHT
If ATP is the currency of energy, then ATP synthase is its minting machine. Housed in the
mitochondria, protons produced by respiration power this enzyme to crank out ATP from inputted
ADP. Given its ubiquity, ATP synthase is believed to have formed early in the history of life on Earth. It’s
considered an example of modular evolution – that is, a composite of functionally independent
subunits that combined to form a structure with a different ability.

RELATED TOPICS
See also
CHEMICAL ENERGY
CONSERVATION OF ENERGY

3-SECOND BIOGRAPHY
FRITZ LIPMANN
1899–1986
German-American biochemist who identified ATP as the main source of energy in the cell in his 1941
paper ‘The Metabolic Generation and Utilization of Phosphate Bond Energy’

30-SECOND TEXT
Simon Flynn

A bond in the relatively simple adenosine triphosphate (ATP)

molecule is used to transport chemical energy around living
organisms.
COAL
the 30-second theory

Coal is an energy-dense fossil fuel. It currently provides almost 30 per cent of

all humanity’s energy needs and is responsible for the production of more than
40 per cent of the planet’s electricity. Around 300 million years ago, there were
many more swamps and bogs on the Earth’s surface. Typically, when plant
material dies, organisms break it down and, through the process of respiration,
return much of the carbon contained in living matter back to the atmosphere in
the form of carbon dioxide (CO2). However, swamp water contains low
concentrations of oxygen and this limits decomposition. Dead plants sink to the
bottom and get covered by increasing amounts of silt. This process keeps
repeating and pressure increases. Eventually, water is squeezed out of the plant
cells and peat is formed. The peat is buried yet further, pressure and
temperature increase and, in order of increasing carbon concentration, the
following types of coal are formed: lignite, bituminous, subbituminous and
anthracite. Bituminous is the most commonly used: 60–80 per cent carbon, it
also contains sulphur impurities. As a result, sulphur dioxide (SO2) as well as
CO2 is formed when bituminous coal is burned – SO2 is a major contributor to
acid rain and increasing concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere are lowering
the oceans’ pH.

3-SECOND THRASH
Coal is made of plant material that originally lived in swampy or boggy conditions 100–300 million
years ago, containing a high percentage of carbon.

3-MINUTE THOUGHT
Use of coal is unlikely to reduce in the near future. Known reserves are expected to last at least 100
years, it produces energy more cheaply than oil and natural gas and vast amounts are found in the
major economic powers of the United States, China and India. For many nations, it provides realistic
energy security, given that oil and gas are mostly found in the Persian Gulf. But it’s a dirty fuel,
particularly in its mining and burning.

RELATED TOPICS
See also
CHEMICAL ENERGY
OIL
BIOFUELS

3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
JAMES WATT
1736–1819
Scottish businessman and inventor whose steam engines drove the Industrial Revolution and were
powered by coal

HUMPHRY DAVY
1778–1829
English scientist whose safety lamp, designed to avoid igniting flammable gases, saved the lives of
many coal miners

30-SECOND TEXT
Simon Flynn

Over time, dead organic matter is put under pressure by a build-up

of soil above, gradually forming a layer of coal.
OIL
the 30-second theory

Crude oil is a mixture of hydrocarbons (molecules that contain only hydrogen

and carbon), varying in size from the smallest, methane (CH4), to much larger
molecules containing tens of carbon atoms. The hydrocarbons can be separated
from the mixture using fractional distillation, in which crude oil is vaporized
and then separated off in fractions due to the molecules’ differing boiling (or
condensation) points. These fractions include: refinery gas, petrol, naphtha,
kerosene, lubricating oil and bitumen (various tars). Crude oil is formed in a
very similar way to coal. Organisms (mostly plankton) living in ancient oceans
died and fell to the seabed. Silt and sand covered them and this sediment
steadily increased over time. Pressure and temperature increased and
sedimentary rocks such as sandstone, limestone and shale were formed. The
organic matter was gradually broken down into simpler and simpler molecules,
resulting in underground reservoirs of oil and natural gas. These reservoirs,
buried deep underground and difficult to access, are actually porous rock with
the oil contained in tiny spaces. As a result, it typically requires considerable
effort to extract oil. Once refined, it’s most commonly used to produce the
energy required to make things move such as cars, boats and planes.

3-SECOND THRASH
Crude oil is a mixture of hydrocarbons – molecules made of carbon and hydrogen only; these were
originally made up of ocean-based organisms such as plankton.

3-MINUTE THOUGHT
In the United States, about 47 per cent of refined oil is used as petrol, almost 10 per cent as jet fuel and
30 per cent as diesel and other fuels. The hydrocarbons that make up crude oil aren’t just a useful
energy resource. They are also used to produce lubricants, plastics such as polythene and PVC,
solvents such as ethanol and fabrics such as nylon. Current proved reserves of oil should last 50 years.

RELATED TOPICS
See also
CHEMICAL ENERGY
COAL
BIOFUELS

3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
HIERONYMUS BRUNSCHWIG
c. 1450–1512
German surgeon and alchemist who wrote Liber de arte distillandi, the first book on distillation

RUDOLF DIESEL
1858–1913
German inventor of the internal combustion engine

EDWARD BUTLER
1862–1940
English inventor credited with making the first petrol engine

30-SECOND TEXT
Simon Flynn

Oil is a mix of hydrocarbons formed from decayed organic matter in

deep underground reservoirs.
FISSION
the 30-second theory

Nuclear fission occurs when the nucleus of a heavy element, containing many
protons and neutrons, splits into two or more smaller nuclei. It is typically
triggered when the parent nucleus absorbs an extra neutron. As well as
releasing a large amount of energy, the fission reaction produces additional free
neutrons, which can go on to trigger the same reaction in neighbouring nuclei.
As long as there is a ‘critical mass’ of fissionable material, this gives rise to a
self-sustaining chain reaction. If such a reaction proceeds very rapidly, the
result is a nuclear bomb – the most notorious application of fission. However,
the reaction can be tamed by employing just a small percentage of fissionable
nuclei, such as the isotope uranium-235, embedded in a more stable isotope
like uranium-238. Further fine-tuning can be achieved through the use of
control rods of a different material, which absorb free neutrons without
fissioning. Reactors built on these principles produce energy in the form of
heat, which can then be converted to rotary motion using a steam turbine. In a
nuclear submarine, the turbine directly drives the propulsion system, while in a
nuclear power station it is used to run an electrical generator.

3-SECOND THRASH
Nuclear fission produces large amounts of energy by splitting heavy atomic nuclei into smaller ones;
fission reactors are used in nuclear submarines as well as power stations.

3-MINUTE THOUGHT
The end-products of nuclear fission are typically highly radioactive; in other words, their nuclei are
unstable and prone to decay with the release of radiation that is hazardous to life. A nuclear explosion
may scatter radioactive fallout over a wide area, and even the carefully managed disposal of
radioactive waste from a nuclear reactor poses significant environmental concerns. Many of the
strongest arguments against both nuclear weapons and nuclear power generation centre on the
potentially catastrophic effects of radioactivity.

RELATED TOPICS
See also
NUCLEAR ENERGY
FUSION
NUCLEAR

3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
LISE MEITNER
1878–1968
Austrian-Swedish physicist who produced the first theoretical analysis of nuclear fission and the
energy it releases

OTTO HAHN
1879–1968
German scientist who worked with Meitner and made the first experimental discovery of fission

30-SECOND TEXT
Andrew May

When a nucleus splits in a chain reaction it generates a number of

neutrons, each of which can cause another nucleus to split.
FUSION
the 30-second theory

The vast quantities of energy radiated by the Sun come predominantly from the
fusion of hydrogen nuclei – each comprising just a single proton – into helium
nuclei, each made up of two protons and two neutrons. Fusion is a nuclear
reaction just like fission, but it has several important advantages. It generates
more energy per unit mass, its waste products are less hazardous and the basic
fuel – hydrogen – is far more abundant than fissionable elements like uranium.
Unfortunately, reproducing star-like nuclear fusion in a power station poses
huge engineering challenges. Fusion can only occur at extremely high
temperatures, measured in tens of millions of degrees, at which hydrogen forms
an ionized gas called a plasma. The problem is not just to create the plasma, but
to keep it contained once it has been created. The Sun’s plasma is held in place
by its gravity, but on Earth alternative methods must be used. Chief among
these are magnetic confinement devices such as the tokamak, originally
invented as long ago as the 1950s. Limited, laboratory-scale fusion was
achieved soon after, but subsequent progress has been painfully slow. Even
today, the energy produced by experimental fusion reactors is outweighed by
the energy needed to generate and confine the plasma.

3-SECOND THRASH
Nuclear fusion powers the Sun and offers a tantalizingly attractive energy source for the future – but
only after major engineering challenges have been overcome.

3-MINUTE THOUGHT
The first generation of nuclear weapons, such as the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs of August 1945,
were fission devices. Later thermonuclear weapons, such as the so-called ‘hydrogen bomb’, are two-
stage devices using both fission and fusion. The heat generated by an initial fission reaction triggers
fusion in the second stage, and high-energy neutrons produced by this fusion reaction enormously
boost the rate of fission. Nevertheless, most of the explosive energy of the bomb still comes from
fission, not fusion.

RELATED TOPICS
See also
NUCLEAR ENERGY
INSIDE A STAR
FISSION

3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
ARTHUR EDDINGTON
1882–1944
English astrophysicist who first suggested that nuclear fusion takes place inside stars

ANDREI SAKHAROV
1921–89
Russian nuclear physicist who did important work on both the hydrogen bomb and the tokamak

30-SECOND TEXT
Andrew May

One of the most promising nuclear fusion reactors, the tokamak,

uses a doughnut-shaped vessel in which high-temperature plasma
is contained by a magnetic field.
ALESSANDRO VOLTA

Alessandro Volta was born the same year that

saw the invention of the Leyden jar, the first
means of storing electrical charge and, arguably,
the most influential electrical instrument of the
eighteenth century. The Leyden jar ushered in a
golden age of research into electricity and Volta
proved to be one of the most important
protagonists in developing the subsequent
revolution of electrochemistry.
Volta’s greatest discovery, the voltaic pile or
battery, was prompted by the work of fellow
countryman Luigi Galvani. An anatomist by
background, Galvani had spent several years
dissecting frogs when his research interests took
a dramatic turn in 1780. One such dissection was
lying on a franklin square, a device similar to a
Leyden jar, when the inner nerve of its leg was
touched by Galvani’s metal scalpel and violent
contractions were suddenly observed. Similar
results were seen when the steel scalpel touched
a brass hook that was being used to hold a leg in place. This, along with a series of follow-up
experiments, led Galvani to confirm and extend the contemporary theory of animal electricity and
1791 saw the publication of his Commentary on the Effects of Electricity on Muscular Motion. Only
12 copies of the first edition were printed and Galvani sent one of these to Volta.
At first, Volta was a supporter of Galvani’s conclusions. A change came when Volta started to
look carefully at his compatriot’s experiments, repeating many of them himself. Thus began the
controversy that divided the scientific community. Where Galvani saw the generation of the electric
current as occurring in the frog’s muscles, Volta’s brilliance was to realize that it was the presence of
two different metals that caused the current. It was Volta’s belief that the frog was essentially acting
as a very sensitive electrometer and he began to investigate how the quantity of electricity produced
by two different metals could be increased.
This led to his invention of the electric pile, what we would today call a battery. After
experimenting with various pairs of metals, Volta settled on zinc and silver as providing the greatest
effect. He also recognized that Galvani’s frogs had provided something essential to the process: a
conductive liquid. So, Volta’s first electric pile consisted of alternating zinc and silver discs, with
brine-soaked cardboard between each disc and wires connected at both ends. All other things being
equal, the size of the voltage and the current produced depended on the metals used and could
always be increased by adding more discs. Volta named this new apparatus the ‘artificial electric
organ’ in reference to the torpedo fish, or electric ray.
This was the first time a steady current could be produced and, in the years following Volta’s
discovery, versions of his pile were used to extract a number of elements such as sodium and
calcium, thereby leading to their discovery, as well as to separate water into hydrogen and oxygen.

Simon Flynn

1745
Born in Como, then part of the Duchy of Milan

1769
Writes a treatise, On the Forces of Attraction of Electric Fire

1774
Becomes an instructor at Como grammar school

1775
Invents a ‘perpetual electrophotus’

1778
Is the first person to isolate pure methane

1779
Becomes professor of experimental physics at the University of Pavia

1785
Is made rector of the University of Pavia

1794
Is the first foreigner to win the Royal Society’s Copley Medal. Marries Teresa Peregrini

1798
Luigi Galvani dies

1800
Discovery of the ‘electric pile’ announced by the Royal Society

1801
Receives a gold medal and pension from Napoleon Bonaparte

1810
Is made a count by Napoleon

1827
Dies at home in Camnago
WATER STORAGE
the 30-second theory

One big challenge for energy generation is that demand fluctuates. There are
peak times – in the mornings, say, when people are boiling kettles. But demand
plummets in the middle of the night. Yet energy generation can’t always be
cranked up or down accordingly – nuclear power stations, for example, have to
run more or less flat out. So electricity grids need ‘load balancing’, using a
process by which unwanted energy – which is relatively cheap – can be stored
for use at peak times. Massive batteries are an expensive solution, but for
hydroelectric energy there is a better plan. The water itself can be pumped back
up the mountainside to the high reservoir using off-peak power, and then
discharged during peak demand. Such pumped-storage hydroelectricity has the
largest storage capacity for any form of grid energy, since it is much easier to
store water than electricity itself. Some of these storage plants are more or less
closed systems: the same water is discharged and then pumped back between
two reservoirs. Because of inevitable energy losses in generation and pumping,
the process consumes energy overall – typical efficiencies are around 70–80
per cent. These plants can still be economically viable, however, because the
pumping power is low-cost, and they can also act as short-term reserves, for
example to compensate for breakdowns of conventional power stations.

3-SECOND THRASH
Pumped storage is a way to store energy resources for hydroelectricity by using off-peak power to
pump water back up into a reservoir.

3-MINUTE THOUGHT
Pumped storage can use seawater. Japan has a 30-megawatt seawater plant at Okinawa, built in 1999,
which pumps water from the shoreline to an artificial reservoir 150 metres (500 ft) high. If pumping in
such plants is conducted at high tide and released at low tide, there is an extra gain in energy: some is
extracted from the tide itself. Other seawater pumped-storage projects are being explored in Hawaii,
Chile, Ireland and the Middle East.

RELATED TOPICS
See also
POTENTIAL ENERGY
HYDRO

3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
WILLIAM RANKINE
1820–72
Scottish engineer who coined the term ‘potential energy’

EDWARD MACCOLL
1882–1951
Scottish engineer and pioneer of hydroelectricity, who conceived one of the first pumped-storage
plants at Cruachan on Loch Awe in the 1930s

30-SECOND TEXT
Philip Ball

In a pumped storage system, water is pumped up to a high

mountain reservoir, and stored as potential energy until there is a
demand.
FUEL CELLS
the 30-second theory

The burning of fuels in oxygen is basically a transaction in electrons: the fuel

loses them, the oxygen gets them and atoms are rearranged in the process. But
it’s a rather wasteful way to generate electricity – as is done in coal- or gas-
fired power stations, for example. In turning the chemical energy first to heat
and then to electricity, a fair amount of it is squandered. It would be more
efficient to use the chemical energy directly to set electrons in motion, making
electricity without the intermediation of heat. That’s what fuel cells do.
Invented in the 1830s, they conduct the combustion process in two separate
halves of an electrochemical cell. At the positive electrode, electrons are
extracted from the fuel, which is typically hydrogen gas, methane or methanol.
The electrons flow along a wire to the negative electrode, where they are
released onto oxygen gas. The two half-cell reactions thus produce the products
of the combustion reaction: for a hydrogen-powered fuel cell, these are positive
hydrogen ions and negative hydroxide ions, which combine to make water. The
two half-cells are connected by an electrolyte, generally an ion-transporting
liquid or solid. Modern fuel cells are compact, mostly solid devices that act as
fuel-powered batteries for vehicles, portable electronics, spacecraft and
satellites and medium-scale power generation.

3-SECOND THRASH
Fuel cells harness the chemical energy of combustion by turning it directly into electricity in a battery-
like cell fed with fuel.

3-MINUTE THOUGHT
As pretty much any chemical reaction involves movement of electricity, all manner of chemical
processes can be harnessed in fuel cells. ‘Microbial fuel cells’ exploit the biochemical metabolic
processes of microorganisms to generate (generally small amounts of) electricity from decomposition
reactions in soils, sediments and wastewater. Other fuel cells are coupled to cell reactions in higher
living organisms: one runs on digestion of human blood sugar by encapsulated yeast, generating
electricity that might power biomedical implants.

RELATED TOPICS
See also
BATTERIES
OXIDATION
BURNING

3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
WILLIAM GROVE
1811–96
Welsh scientist and barrister, generally credited as the inventor of the fuel cell, which he first reported
in 1838

FRANCIS THOMAS BACON

1904–92
English engineer (and descendant of his seventeenth-century namesake) who developed the first
hydrogen fuel cell in the 1940s and 1950s

30-SECOND TEXT
Philip Ball

Grove’s concept of the fuel cell was devised long before it could be
practically used, but provides an efficient way of using hydrogen to
generate electricity.
BATTERIES
the 30-second theory

Electrical batteries have been around for more than 200 years, but they are as
important today as ever. Rapidly developing technologies such as mobile
phones and electric vehicles would be impossible without the compact, self-
contained energy source that is so easy to take for granted. In essence, a battery
is a device for converting stored chemical energy into electrical energy. The
simplest battery – a single cell – consists of two electrodes of different
materials embedded in an electrolyte of a third material. When the electrodes
are connected to an external circuit, an electric current flows through it as a
result of chemical reactions occurring inside the battery. Some types of battery,
called primary batteries, are ready to deliver power as soon as they are
constructed, but once they are fully discharged they cannot be recharged. The
cylindrical alkaline batteries commonly used in torches and TV remote controls
fall in this category. In contrast, secondary batteries – such as the lead-acid
battery found in a car, or the lithium-ion batteries used in mobile phones and
laptop computers – must be charged from an external power supply before they
can be used, but can then be discharged and recharged over and over again.

3-SECOND THRASH
Batteries store energy in chemical form, and deliver it as electricity; depending on the specific design
they may be either single-use or rechargeable.

3-MINUTE THOUGHT
In some applications, notably emergency systems or military weapons such as missiles and
torpedoes, a battery may go unused for years – or even decades – before suddenly needing to operate
with high reliability. Such situations require a special type of battery, called a reserve battery, in which
the electrolyte is only activated immediately before use. For example, the electrolyte may be inert in
its normal solid form, but becomes active when heat is applied to liquefy it.

RELATED TOPICS
See also
CHEMICAL ENERGY
ALESSANDRO VOLTA
FUEL CELLS

3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
ALESSANDRO VOLTA
1745–1827
Italian electrical experimenter who constructed the world’s first battery – the electric pile

GASTON PLANTÉ
1834–89
French physicist who invented the rechargeable lead-acid battery

30-SECOND TEXT
Andrew May

Batteries have come a long way from Volta’s electric pile, and are
now capable of storing sufficient energy to power a sports car.
OceanofPDF.com
TRANSMITTING ENERGY
TRANSMITTING ENERGY
GLOSSARY

absolute zero The lowest conceivable temperature: -273.15°C (-459.67°F).

This temperature is not achievable in practice, because it implies that all
particles are at their lowest energy and not moving. This is not possible for
quantum particles, as Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle does not allow them to
have exactly known position and momentum.

BCS theory Bardeen Cooper Schrieffer theory, which explains the functioning
of low-temperature superconductors.

convector Substance such as a gas or liquid that can transfer heat by

convection.

Cooper pairs Pairs of electrons produced when a substance is at a very low

temperature. They can move through the substance without any electrical
resistance.

electrical conductors Substances such as metals or carbon that have an

abundance of free electrons; these electrons enable the conductor to carry an
electrical current.

electromagnetic spectrum Visible light is part of a much wider range of

electromagnetic radiation, going from radio waves, through microwaves,
infrared, visible, ultraviolet and X-rays to gamma rays.

free electrons Electrons that are not bound to an atom and can move through a
material carrying electrical current or heat.

greenhouse effect Some molecules in the atmosphere, such as carbon dioxide

and water vapour, absorb infrared light and re-emit it. When they absorb
infrared emitted by the Earth’s surface and send some of it back towards Earth,
they create a ‘greenhouse effect’ that retains heat. We need the effect – without
it the average temperature would be -18°C (-0.4°F) – but too strong a
greenhouse effect produces excessive surface temperatures.
Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle A major component of quantum physics,
the uncertainty principle says that there are linked properties in nature, such as
momentum and position, or energy and time, where the more precisely we
know one property of a quantum particle, the less accurately we can know the
other.

ITER experimental fusion energy reactor International project to develop a

reactor in France using a fusion reaction similar to that of the Sun to generate
energy. It is expected to go live in the 2020s.

laser Device using stimulated emission of radiation to produce a beam of

visible light. The name stands for ‘light amplification by the stimulated
emission of radiation’.

maglev trains Trains that use very powerful magnets to repel the track so they
float above it. They require superconducting magnets.

maser Device using stimulated emission of radiation to produce a beam of

microwaves. The name stands for ‘microwave amplification by the stimulated
emission of radiation’.

MRI scanners Medical scanners that use powerful magnetic fields to turn
water molecules in the body into tiny radio transmitters, building up an internal
picture of the body.

plasma Fourth state of matter after solids, liquids and gases. A plasma is
gaslike, but is made up of ions rather than atoms and is an electrical conductor.

quantized states Possible states a particle or other quantum object can be in.
These states cannot have any value, but have fixed values, requiring a jump
between states.

quantum mechanics Old term for quantum physics – the physics of the very
small, such as electrons, atoms and photons of light.

speed of light Light travels at a constant speed in any medium. It is fastest in a

vacuum, where its speed of 299,792,458 m/sec (983,571,056 ft/sec) is the
highest possible velocity through space.
stimulated emission Emission of photons of light by an electron, triggered by
an incoming photon. One photon comes in and two emerge, so the light is
amplified.

superconductivity Quantum effect when a material is extremely cold, which

means that there is no resistance to electrical currents. As a result, currents can
travel indefinitely without heat losses, and very high currents can be produced
that are used to provide extremely powerful magnets.

vacuum Region of space containing hardly any matter.

THERMAL CONDUCTION
the 30-second theory

We feel the effects of thermal conduction whenever we stir a hot cup of tea
with a metal spoon. Heat is conducted from the parts of the spoon in contact
with the hot liquid towards the initially colder end that pokes out from our tea.
Conduction occurs thanks to both the vibration of the spoon’s atoms and the
movement of electrons inside the metal. Heat causes a solid’s atoms to vibrate
about their normal positions, and the higher the temperature the more they
vibrate. As the atoms in solids are joined by interatomic bonds, the vibrations
in hot areas will pass from atom to atom through the solid, transferring the
heat. This is a relatively slow process compared with the conduction of heat
energy by free electrons. These electrons gain kinetic energy (energy due to
movement) from the heat, and when they move to a colder area and collide
with an atom, this energy is converted into vibrational energy and the
temperature of that area rises. Free electrons move quickly, so this method of
transferring heat is faster. Metals are particularly good thermal conductors
because they contain lots of free electrons. Aluminium alloys and copper, for
example, are used in electronics to conduct heat away from processors and so
prevent malfunctioning due to overheating.

3-SECOND THRASH
Heat is conducted through solids by atomic vibrations and by free electrons, which are abundant in
good electrical conductors – making them good thermal conductors, too.

3-MINUTE THOUGHT
Conduction helps transfer heat from one fluid (liquid or gas) to another inside a heat exchanger. Heat
exchangers save on energy consumption by using waste heat – such as that generated by machines or
furnaces – to heat buildings or vehicles. Inside the simplest designs, one fluid flows through a pipe
while the other fluid passes around the outside of that pipe. While heat transfers within each fluid via
convection, conduction transfers heat through the pipe wall.

RELATED TOPICS
See also
HEAT
KINETIC ENERGY
DOWN THE WIRE

3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
DANIEL GABRIEL FAHRENHEIT
1686–1736
German physicist who made the first mercury thermometer in 1714

ANDERS CELSIUS
1701–44
Swedish astronomer who, in 1742, devised a temperature scale in which 0 degrees was the
temperature of boiling water and 100 degrees the temperature of melting ice. These fixed points are
swapped over in the Celsius scale we use today

30-SECOND TEXT
Sharon Ann Holgate

The relatively free electrons in metals make them good thermal

conductors to help heat escape from a hot source.
CONVECTION
the 30-second theory

Convection appears to be the poor cousin of the three basic mechanisms for
energy to get from place to place, and yet it is vital for the Earth’s systems. In
effect, convection is conduction that plays piggyback. Just as in conventional
conduction, the kinetic energy of molecules in a source object is transferred to
kinetic energy in the molecules of the convector. But instead of passing that
energy along in a chain-like fashion, the convector now moves from one place
to another, carrying the energy with it, before passing it on. This movement
takes place in fluids – liquids, gases or plasmas – and in its natural form is
dependent on basic thermodynamics or diffusion to power the movement. The
most dramatic examples of convection on Earth are the weather systems. Here
two forces combine – hot fluids rise, as they are less dense because the
increased kinetic energy of their molecules make them more dispersed, while
interaction between different adjacent zones plus the rotation of the Earth
causes sideways motion. With human intervention, the energy for movement
can be deliberately inserted, rather than coming from natural circulation – as,
for instance, when a convector heater uses a fan to blow hot air from place to
place.

3-SECOND THRASH
In convection, energy is carried between locations when fast-moving particles are carried through a
fluid, such as water, so that they transfer their energy to a different location.

3-MINUTE THOUGHT
Convection often takes place in ‘cells’ – volumes within a fluid that contain rotating material. If the
fluid is warmed from below, for example, a portion of it rises, carrying heat upwards. The fluid then
falls back down as it cools, and this process tends to form alternate clockwise and anticlockwise
rotations. A large-scale example of convection cells are the Hadley cells, where air rises near the
equator, heads towards the pole, then descends and returns towards the equator.

RELATED TOPICS
See also
HEAT
KINETIC ENERGY
THERMAL CONDUCTION

3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
GEORGE HADLEY
1685–1768
English lawyer and meteorologist who proposed a mechanism for the trade winds now known as
Hadley circulation

GILBERT WALKER
1868–1958
English physicist who discovered the weather convection process known as Walker circulation

30-SECOND TEXT
Brian Clegg

The convection currents carrying heat through water in a kettle and

through the atmosphere may be on a different scale but involve
similar processes.
RADIATION
the 30-second theory

It’s estimated that more energy from the Sun strikes Earth in 90 minutes than
was consumed by the world in 2001. This reaches us via radiation, the transfer
of energy through electromagnetic waves. These make up the electromagnetic
spectrum – in order of increasing energy, radio waves, microwaves, infrared,
visible light, ultraviolet, X-rays and gamma waves. Electromagnetic waves
don’t need a medium (matter) to transmit and so can travel through space (a
vacuum). Over 99 per cent of all energy expended on Earth came originally
from the Sun. This is because, within the Sun, hydrogen nuclei are fused
together to form helium nuclei and energy, which radiates out in all directions.
Travelling at the speed of light, this takes almost eight and a half minutes to
reach us, mostly as infrared and visible light. All objects radiate energy. The
hotter something is the more energy it emits (gives out). At room temperature,
most objects emit infrared and this radiation moves into, and through, the
visible spectrum as the temperature rises. This explains why a heated iron
poker first glows red, then yellow and then a bluish white as its temperature
increases. The colour of an object affects its ability to emit and absorb
electromagnetic waves: white is a poor absorber and emitter, black is the
opposite.

3-SECOND THRASH
Radiation is the only energy transfer that can take place in a vacuum. It works through the emission of
electromagnetic waves such as infrared and visible light.

3-MINUTE THOUGHT
By day, Earth absorbs energy from the Sun and heats up – if we walk on a beach at night the sand feels
warm. This absorbed energy is subsequently emitted by Earth in the form of infrared radiation. Many
atmospheric molecules such as water, methane, ozone and carbon dioxide absorb this energy,
trapping it. This is the greenhouse effect. Without it, Earth’s average temperature would be below
water’s freezing point. Life on Earth would be impossible.

RELATED TOPICS
See also
HEAT
INSIDE A STAR
SOLAR

3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
WILLIAM HERSCHEL
1738–1822
German-born British musician and astronomer who discovered infrared while investigating the
reaction of a thermometer at different positions on a spectrum

JAMES CLERK MAXWELL

1831–79
Scottish physicist who was first to fully explain the nature of electromagnetic radiation

30-SECOND TEXT
Simon Flynn

Herschel uncovered ‘invisible light’ in the form of infrared, part of

the wider spectrum of electromagentic energy reaching Earth from
the Sun.
HEIKE KAMERLINGH ONNES

Although his name is not one that will be

familiar to many, Heike Kamerlingh Onnes was
a worthy winner of the 1913 Nobel Prize in
physics. His award was for ‘his investigations on
the properties of matter at low temperatures,
which led, inter alia, to the production of liquid
helium’. Kamerlingh Onnes was, without doubt,
the early twentieth century’s king of cool.
He came from a solid, middle-class family.
His father, Harm, owned a brickworks and his
mother, Anna, was an architect’s daughter.
Kamerlingh Onnes studied physics at Groningen
before going on to study under Bunsen and
Kirchoff at Heidelberg. Subsequently he
received his doctorate back in Groningen for
work on mechanisms such as Foucault’s
pendulum that can be used to study the rotation
of the Earth. He went on to explore liquids, and
by the 1880s, when he moved to Leiden, he
began to focus particularly on low temperature
work.
Primarily an experimental physicist, Kamerlingh Onnes wanted to demonstrate the theoretical
developments of Johannes Diderik van der Waals and Hendrik Lorentz, and after a number of years
working on cooling mechanisms, he became the first to successfully liquefy helium in 1908,
reaching temperatures close to 1 K (-272.2°C or -457.9°F), just a degree away from the ultimate
low-temperature limit of absolute zero. Kamerlingh Onnes would make a range of discoveries on the
behaviour of matter at extremely low temperatures, but his most remarkable result in 1911 was
superconductivity, where he found that materials at extremely low temperatures behaved totally
unexpectedly. When he took mercury below 4.2 K (-268.95°C or -452.11 °F), its resistance entirely
disappeared.
Some had expected that resistance would become infinite at absolute zero. Others, like
Kamerlingh Onnes himself, thought that resistance would gradually taper off, but this sudden
disappearance was shocking. The total absence of resistance was also difficult to prove
experimentally. One approach taken by Kamerlingh Onnes was to start a current flowing in a loop of
superconducting material encased in liquid helium. He then monitored the current from outside by
measuring the magnetic field it produced, which remained constant. Although Kamerlingh Onnes
could only do this for a few hours before his helium boiled away, a variant of the experiment was
run in the 1950s for 18 months without any reduction in current flow.
Originally Kamerlingh Onnes referred to the effect as ‘supraconductivity’, though he would later
accept the more popular superconductivity. Six years after his death, the building where he worked
was renamed the Kamerlingh Onnes laboratory.

Brian Clegg

1853
Born in Groningen, Netherlands
1870
Enrols at the University of Groningen

1871
Moves to Heidelberg

1873
Returns to Groningen

1879
Gains doctorate in physics

1878
Moves to Delft Polytechnic as assistant to the director

1882
Becomes professor of experimental physics at the University of Leiden

1883
Appointed a member of the Royal Academy of Science of Amsterdam

1887
Marries Maria Adriana Wilhelmina Elisabeth Bijleveld

1904
Opens low-temperature laboratory at Leiden

1908
Liquefies helium

1911
Demonstrates superconductivity in a mercury wire

1913
Awarded the Nobel Prize in physics

1926
Dies in Leiden, Netherlands
TRANSPORTING CHEMICALS
the 30-second theory

We are so used to stopping at a petrol station for fuel or to putting wood and
coal in a stove that it’s easy to forget that these fuels represent a way to
transport chemical energy to where it can be transformed into electricity, heat
or mechanical energy. The reason that oil-based fuels like petrol and kerosene
remain attractive as a way to transmit energy is that they pack in a high energy
density. Aviation fuel, for example, holds 15 times as much energy per
kilogram as does the explosive TNT. The reason we use TNT for demolition is
the speed with which it burns – releasing all its energy very quickly. Kerosene
and petrol burn much slower, but manage to hold a great deal of energy. These
oil-based fuels store around 100 times as much energy per kilogram as a good
battery, which is why batteries are only just becoming practical for cars and
still can’t pack in enough power for a plane. Natural gas tends to be lumped in
with coal and oil, but has the big advantage that many countries have a pipeline
distribution network in place, reducing the costs of transmitting energy in this
form.

3-SECOND THRASH
Fossil fuels cram in a lot of energy, which makes them efficient at transmitting energy from place to
place, especially with a pipeline network like natural gas.

3-MINUTE THOUGHT
Hydrogen is sometimes cited as an alternative means of powering cars, and it packs in even more
energy per unit weight than does an oil-based fuel. The big advantage of hydrogen is that it burns
cleanly, giving off no carbon dioxide (CO2), just water. However, it is more dangerous to store and
transport than petrol, and would need a new distribution network. It also takes up to six times as
much space as conventional fuel for the same energy, reducing capacity.

RELATED TOPICS
See also
CHEMICAL ENERGY
COAL
OIL

3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
NIKOLAUS OTTO
1832–91
German engineer behind the first practical internal combustion engine using an oil-based fuel

KARL BENZ
1844–1929
German engineer who built the first car powered by an internal combustion engine

VLADIMIR SHUKHOV
1853–1939
Russian engineer who devised the first cracking process to turn crude oil into practical fuels

30-SECOND TEXT
Brian Clegg

Oil-based fuels pack in far more energy per unit weight than
equivalents such as batteries.
LASERS
the 30-second theory

Energy may be absorbed and emitted by atoms and molecules when they make
jumps between the fixed amounts of energy that quantum mechanics limits
them to having. Their rotations, vibrations and electron energies all have such
‘quantized’ states, and a jump between two states may be accompanied by
absorption or emission of a photon – a packet of light energy – of the
corresponding energy. When an atom loses energy, it releases a photon of very
specific wavelength and colour. In general such transitions are independent
from one atom to the next – in a piece of hot, glowing metal, each atom emits
light without regard to its neighbours. But in 1917 Albert Einstein realized that
the emission of a photon from one atom could stimulate that from another.
Then the two photons are in step (coherent): the peaks and troughs of the light
waves coincide. If such photons could be confined within the emitting material,
there could be an avalanche effect that induces all the atoms to emit coherently
more or less at once. This ‘light amplification by stimulated emission of
radiation’ is the physical basis for a device named after the acronym: laser.
Because the light is coherent and emitted all in the same direction, it creates a
bright, narrow beam that is not easily scattered.

3-SECOND THRASH
Lasers produce intense, coherent light waves from the way light emission from one atom can
stimulate that in another.

3-MINUTE THOUGHT
There are natural lasers of a sort in space. Stimulated emission of microwave radiation (maser action)
can occur in the molecular clouds from which stars form. This emission has the very narrow
wavelength range characteristic of the laser process, and was first detected in 1965 coming from
hydroxyl (OH) molecules in such clouds. Astrophysical masers have since been discovered for other
molecules, including water and methanol; some are stimulated by starlight.

RELATED TOPICS
See also
FUSION
RADIATION
QED

3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
CHARLES H. TOWNES
1915–2015
American physicist who first demonstrated the laser principle in 1953 with a device operating at
microwave frequencies

THEODORE MAIMAN
1927–2007
American engineer who made the first working laser at visible-light frequencies, using a ruby crystal,
in 1960

30-SECOND TEXT
Philip Ball

Theodore Maiman’s first laser started an optical revolution that

would transform communications through fibre optics and make
optical discs possible.
DOWN THE WIRE
the 30-second theory

In the twenty-first century electrical wiring is ubiquitous, from the huge cables
slung between pylons, to the power supply that charges a smartphone. That
electrical distribution has become so commonplace emphasizes both the
significance of electricity to civilization and the ease with which this form of
energy can be transmitted from place to place. Early descriptions of electricity
described it as a form of fluid, as if we poured a pile of electrons into one end
of a wire so that they could flow down like water through a pipe and emerge at
the other end. The flow of electricity was thought to be from positive to
negative pole, and is still conventionally drawn this way, though we now know
that the flow of electrons is in the opposite direction. It is true that electrons
move down a cable this way. But they drift along at less than walking pace.
When a current ‘flows’ in a wire, an electromagnetic field is set up, transmitted
at near light speed, starting electrons moving almost immediately at the far end.
We mostly transmit electricity as alternating current (AC), where the direction
of flow switches rapidly back and forth, rather than single-direction direct
current (DC). Transformers push the AC to high voltages for long-distance
transmission, because this reduces the current flow and, hence, loss due to
heating.

3-SECOND THRASH
Electrical energy in the form of an electromagnetic wave is transmitted along wires, using high
voltages for long distances and usually employing alternating current (AC).

3-MINUTE THOUGHT
We have traditionally used high-voltage AC to transmit electrical energy over large distances, but there
is growing interest in using high-voltage DC that can reduce both the cost and energy losses. This was
not considered practical until the mid-twentieth century, because transformers to change voltage
have to be AC and switching high-power transmitted DC to and from AC was not viable until a new
generation of conversion technology came onstream.

RELATED TOPICS
See also
BATTERIES
THERMAL CONDUCTION
SUPERCONDUCTORS
ELECTROMAGNETISM

3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
THOMAS EDISON
1847–1931
American inventor who pioneered electrical distribution and championed the DC system

NIKOLA TESLA
1856–1943
Croatian-born American engineer who contributed significantly to the development of the modern AC
system

30-SECOND TEXT
Brian Clegg

An AC electricity supply can be pushed up to high voltages using

transformers, reducing power line losses.
SUPERCONDUCTORS
the 30-second theory

In 1911, Heike Kamerlingh Onnes found that when solid mercury was cooled
below 4.2 K (-268.95°C or -452.11°F) it lost all resistance to the flow of an
electric current. The mercury had become a superconductor. Superconductivity
has, since then, been shown in thousands of other materials – including
compounds containing copper – when they are cooled below each material’s
specific superconducting transition temperature. This temperature is usually
extremely low, but there are ‘high-temperature’ superconductors that show
superconductivity at temperatures above 77 K (-196.15°C or -321.07°F). In the
1950s, physicists John Bardeen, Leon Neil Cooper and John Robert Schrieffer
worked together to explain the superconductivity seen at very low
temperatures. This resulted in the ‘BCS theory’ (an acronym from their names)
in which electrons form into ‘Cooper pairs’ at very low temperatures thanks to
a quantum mechanical interaction that creates a slight attraction between the
electrons in each pair. While a single electron taking part in an electric current
meets with resistance to its movement when it collides with the atoms of the
solid it is travelling through, a Cooper pair is only prevented from moving
along, and so creating a current, if any collisions with atoms provide enough
energy to split the pair up. Since this rarely happens, the Cooper pairs move
through the solid with no resistance.

3-SECOND THRASH
A direct electric current could theoretically flow in a closed loop of superconducting wire forever, as
superconductors offer no resistance to the flow of electricity.

3-MINUTE THOUGHT
Electromagnets made from superconducting wire generate high magnetic fields, and use little power
because an electric current established in the wire flows almost indefinitely. Superconducting
electromagnets help levitate and propel maglev trains, and enable MRI scanners to create detailed
images of our internal organs and tissues. Ten thousand tonnes of superconducting magnets will
initiate, confine and shape the plasma inside the ITER experimental fusion energy reactor currently
under construction in France.
RELATED TOPICS
See also
FUSION
DOWN THE WIRE
ELECTROMAGNETISM

3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
HEIKE KAMERLINGH ONNES
1853–1926
Dutch physicist who discovered superconductivity in 1911

JOHN BARDEEN, LEON COOPER & JOHN SCHRIEFFER

1908–91, born 1930 & born 1931
American physicists who shared the 1972 Nobel Prize in physics for developing the BCS theory of
superconductivity

30-SECOND TEXT
Sharon Ann Holgate

In maglev trains, superconducting magnets are used to suspend the

train above the track and to provide the motive power to reach high
speeds.
OceanofPDF.com
CONVERTING ENERGY
CONVERTING ENERGY
GLOSSARY

AC Alternating current (AC), where the voltage in the system varies smoothly
between a positive value and the same negative value. Most countries’ AC
systems go through this cycle 50–60 times a second. AC is used because its
voltage can be stepped up or down using a transformer, making it easy to use
very high voltages (which lose less power to heat) for long-distance
transmission.

anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions The levels of carbon dioxide in

Earth’s atmosphere have varied significantly over the lifetime of the planet.
Levels have increased from around 270 parts per million to more than 400
since the Industrial Revolution. There is very strong evidence that these are
human-caused or anthropogenic emissions, as opposed to natural emissions
from volcanoes, for example.

battery A portable device for storing electrical charge, usually a cell

containing a combination of electrodes and an electrolyte. Technically a battery
should comprise multiple cells, but the term is now also used for single cells.

carbon nanotubes Extremely strong tubes made up of a single layer of carbon

atoms.

Carnot engine A hypothetical engine that produces work by moving energy

from a hot to a cold place.

electrode/electrolyte An electrode is a conductor, such as a piece of metal or

carbon, that is given an electrical charge in a cell or other device. An
electrolyte is a substance, usually a fluid or gel, containing ions. The ions
conduct electricity by moving through the electrolyte, attracted to electrodes
that dip into it.

electromagnetic induction If two electrical wires are near each other and one
carries an electrical current of changing voltage, the magnetic field the first
wire produces starts a current in the second wire. Producing such a current
without direct contact is induction.
free radical Chemical substance, usually a molecule, in which an atom has one
or more electrons free to join another atom, making the substance very reactive.

fullerenes Unusual molecules of carbon that form football-like spheres or

tubes. They are named after the architect Buckminster Fuller, who devised
domes with a similar structure.

greenhouse gas Gas producing a greenhouse effect, such as carbon dioxide or

water vapour.

quantum theory Physics theory describing the behaviour of the very small
particles that make up matter and light.

respiration At the most basic level, respiration is the mechanism by which a

living cell converts chemical nutrients into energy. At a higher level, the term is
often used to describe the mechanism used to carry oxygen and carbon dioxide
around a multicellular organism.

rusting Chemical process in which iron atoms react with oxygen to produce
iron oxide.

second law of thermodynamics Sometimes paraphrased as ‘things that run

down’, the second law says that in an isolated system, when two bodies are in
contact, heat flows from the hotter to the colder. This can be phrased as entropy
– the level of disorder in the system – stays the same or increases.

‘step-down’ transformer Device using electromagnetic induction. One coil of

wire carries a high-voltage electrical current. This induces a current in a
second, nearby coil. If the second coil has fewer turns of wire than the first, the
voltage in the second coil is lower, making this a step-down transformer.

turbofan Conventional jet engine in which burning fuel expands gases to turn
a turbine. This is connected to a fan, which draws air through the engine,
supporting the combustion and providing thrust.

turboprop Hybrid between a propeller and jet engine. Burning fuel expands
gases, which turn a turbine, but the thrust is primarily provided by a propeller
driven by the turbine.
xenon Gas that hardly ever reacts due to having a complete outer set of
electrons. Used in powerful light bulbs.
OXIDATION
the 30-second theory

Despite meaning ‘acid former’, oxygen has no essential connection to acids.

Oxidation is another of chemistry’s misnomers: it needn’t involve oxygen,
although it may do. The key chemical fact in the combining of an element or
compound with oxygen is that the substance relinquishes electrons to the
oxygen atoms. Oxygen atoms are avid for electrons, but not uniquely so. Any
substance that is stripped of some of its electrons by another substance that is
more electron-hungry is said to be ‘oxidized’. The recipient of the electrons,
meanwhile, is ‘reduced’. This combination of oxidation and reduction due to
electron transfer is called a ‘redox’ reaction, one of the most fundamental
processes in chemistry. Combustion in oxygen is a special case of this process.
Oxidation and reduction also occur at the two electrodes of a battery –
electrons are transferred through the electrical circuit connecting them. Rusting
of iron is an oxidation process in which the metal is converted to its reddish
oxide. Energy changes in oxidation are not easy to generalize. One can imagine
electrons ‘flowing downhill’ to a lower-energy state – but the driving force of
oxidation depends on other factors too. Oxidation of glucose by oxygen is the
basis of respiration, but light energy can drive the reverse process of
photosynthesis of sugars from oxygen and carbon dioxide.

3-SECOND THRASH
Oxidation is the process by which electrons are removed from a substance; in general, they are
transferred to another substance in the complementary process of reduction.

3-MINUTE THOUGHT
Oxidizing agents, which are particularly good at oxidizing other substances by removing electrons, are
essential components of explosives and rocket fuel. By enabling the oxidation reaction to happen
rapidly, they can release chemical energy explosively. They often contain many oxygen atoms:
chlorate salts are like this, and sodium chlorate – a weedkiller because of its ability to disrupt the
redox processes of plant cells – makes an effective and potentially deadly home-made explosive when
combined with sugar.

RELATED TOPICS
See also
CHEMICAL ENERGY
BATTERIES
BURNING

3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
JOSEPH PRIESTLEY
1733–1804
English chemist and one of the discoverers of oxygen, which he isolated as a gas and showed to be
essential for respiration

NEIL BARTLETT
1932–2008
English chemist who explored oxidizing agents powerful enough to oxidize not just oxygen itself but
also the inert gas xenon

30-SECOND TEXT
Philip Ball

Rust provides a very visual indication of oxidation as iron reacts

with oxygen in the atmosphere to produce iron oxide.
BURNING
the 30-second theory

The controlled use of fire as an energy source seems to predate Homo sapiens –
there is evidence that it was practised by the earliest human species Homo
erectus as much as 400,000 years ago, and perhaps even earlier. It’s hard to be
sure about the date, because distinguishing human-made from natural causes of
burnt stones and bones in the archaeological record is challenging. It’s sobering
to realize that burning is still our main source of energy today: oil, coal and gas
account for at least 85 per cent of the world’s energy resources. That’s because
they are relatively plentiful and cheap. However, these fossil fuels are only
very slowly renewable – it typically takes millions of years for dead organisms
to be converted geologically to coal and oil. What’s more, burning the carbon-
rich compounds produces carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas. Burning or
combustion – the rapid combination of a substance with oxygen, releasing heat
– is a complex chemical process, as Michael Faraday acknowledged in his
historic 1848 lectures on ‘the chemical history of a candle’. A simple candle
flame has many chemical constituents, many of them highly reactive and
ephemeral compounds called free radicals. Even today this burning process is
not fully understood.

3-SECOND THRASH
Burning or combustion is the rapid combination of a substance with oxygen, releasing heat and
usually light.

3-MINUTE THOUGHT
Simple combustion of carbon-rich substances can create complex molecules such as carbon cages,
called fullerenes, and tubular structures called carbon nanotubes. These molecules are typically a
nanometre (one-billionth of a metre) or so across, although nanotubes can reach a few centimetres in
length. They are important in nanotechnology, the engineering of matter on nanometric scales.
Fullerenes and nanotubes have surely existed on Earth as long as fire itself, and some have been seen
in interstellar space.

RELATED TOPICS
See also
HEAT
CHEMICAL ENERGY
OXIDATION

3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
MICHAEL FARADAY
1791–1867
English scientist who made pioneering discoveries in electricity and used the burning of a candle to
illustrate fundamental scientific principles to the public

GEORGE OLAH
1927–2017
Hungarian-American pioneer of hydrocarbon chemistry who studied ways of making hydrocarbon
burning more efficient

30-SECOND TEXT
Philip Ball

Faraday used a candle flame to explore the energy reactions of fire,

an oxidation reaction with potentially devastating results.
EXTERNAL COMBUSTION
the 30-second theory

Heat engines are machines that convert thermal energy into useful work.
Typically, they do this through the expansion and contraction of a working
fluid as it is heated and cooled. In an external combustion engine, the source of
heat is separate from the working fluid. The most familiar example is the steam
engine, in which the working fluid is steam and the heat energy comes from
burning coal. These engines operate on a repeating cycle, in which steam
expands and contracts inside a cylinder to drive a piston. The earliest steam
engines operated at low pressure and had to be extremely large to deliver a
useful amount of power. While they were suitable for stationary applications,
such as pumping, they could not be used for vehicle propulsion. However, by
the end of the eighteenth century, smaller, more efficient high-pressure steam
engines began to appear. Used in conjunction with a crankshaft to convert the
back-and-forth motion of the piston into rotary motion, such engines soon
revolutionized transportation. Steam traction dominated the railways
throughout the nineteenth and well into the twentieth century, while huge
ocean-going steamships ushered in an age of luxurious transatlantic travel.

3-SECOND THRASH
An external combustion engine takes energy from an external source of heat, such as the burning of
coal, and converts it into mechanical work.

3-MINUTE THOUGHT
The efficiency of a heat engine can be quantified as the fraction of thermal energy converted to useful
work. Practical steam engines tend to have low efficiency, often less than 10 per cent. Early in the
nineteenth century, Nicolas Carnot designed a theoretical engine with much higher efficiency, and
showed that no other engine could exceed the efficiency of his design. This was not an idle boast, but
a rigorous consequence of the second law of thermodynamics.

RELATED TOPICS
See also
HEAT
INTERNAL COMBUSTION
THE SECOND LAW

3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
THOMAS NEWCOMEN
1664–1729
English engineer who invented the first practical steam engine

NICOLAS CARNOT
1796–1832
French physicist who developed the theory of heat engines

30-SECOND TEXT
Andrew May

Although heat engines had existed for some time, Carnot’s work
explained them scientifically and enabled more efficient engines to
power the Industrial Revolution.
INTERNAL COMBUSTION
the 30-second theory

An internal combustion engine is a type of heat engine in which the working

fluid is the fuel-air mixture itself, which is burned inside, rather than outside,
the engine. While external combustion engines can use any readily available
fuel, the fuel in an internal combustion engine is specific to the engine design –
usually some form of refined oil. Combustion may occur continuously – as in a
gas turbine, for example – or it may be intermittent, as in the four-stroke
engines found in cars and other road vehicles. As with a steam engine, car
engines involve a piston moving back and forth inside a cylinder. The repeating
cycle in this case consists of four stages: intake, compression, combustion and
exhaust. Combustion may be initiated using an electrical spark, or – in a diesel
engine – by producing sufficient heat during the compression stage to trigger
spontaneous ignition. First appearing towards the end of the nineteenth century,
and significantly smaller and more efficient than steam engines, internal
combustion engines helped to kick-start the era of private motoring and
heavier-than-air flight. By the end of the twentieth century, internal combustion
– which encompasses rockets and jets as well as piston engines – was virtually
ubiquitous in all forms of transport.

3-SECOND THRASH
Internal combustion engines, commonly used in cars and other forms of transport, produce
mechanical power by burning a fuel mixture inside the engine.

3-MINUTE THOUGHT
One of the biggest concerns with internal combustion engines is the large quantity of pollutants they
disgorge into the atmosphere. This includes both natural waste products from the combustion
process, as well as particulate matter and gases resulting from incomplete combustion. Partly
because they are so numerous, internal combustion engines are believed to be responsible for up to
one-quarter of the world’s anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions and as much as one-third of
smog-producing air pollution.

RELATED TOPICS
See also
OIL
EXTERNAL COMBUSTION
TURBINES

3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
NIKOLAUS OTTO
1832–91
German engineer who designed the first practical internal combustion engine

RUDOLF DIESEL
1858–1913
German engineer who invented the compression-ignition engine that bears his name

30-SECOND TEXT
Andrew May

Whether ignited by a spark in a petrol engine or pressure in Diesel’s

variant, the internal combustion engine is a hallmark of the
twentieth century.
ELECTROMAGNETISM
the 30-second theory

Much of the modern world is powered by electromagnetism, as it enables

electric motors and electricity generators to work. The link between electricity
and magnetism was reported in 1820 by Danish physicist Hans Christian
Oersted. He saw a compass needle move when it was brought near a wire
carrying an electric current, and so showed the current was creating a magnetic
field around the wire. Today this effect is harnessed in electromagnets, which
are only magnetic when current is flowing through their wire coils. A year
later, English scientist Michael Faraday created the first electric motor. This
consisted of a current-carrying wire that rotated around a fixed magnet thanks
to the current in the wire creating its own magnetic field, which interacted with
that of the stationary magnet. Modern electric motors work on the same
principle, whether they are rotating an electric toothbrush or propelling an
electric train. Electricity generators work in the opposite way. They convert
movement into electricity via electromagnetic induction, in which a current is
created in a wire when a magnet moves past it, or the wire moves through a
magnetic field. This effect was independently discovered in 1830 by American
physicist Joseph Henry and in 1831 by Michael Faraday, and enables power
stations and wind farms to generate electricity.

3-SECOND THRASH
Electromagnetism describes the interactions between electricity and magnetism, which can generate
movement from electricity and electricity from movement.

3-MINUTE THOUGHT
Electromagnetic induction enables ‘step-down’ transformers to reduce the high grid voltage into a
lower-voltage domestic electricity supply. These transformers have two separate copper wire coils
wound round a magnetic steel core. Alternating current (AC) from the grid flows through the ‘primary’
coil producing an alternating magnetic field that induces AC in the ‘secondary’ coil, which has fewer
turns. Fewer turns in the secondary coil compared with the primary reduces the voltage, making it
ready for use.

RELATED TOPICS
See also
DOWN THE WIRE
TURBINES
WIND

3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
ANDRÉ-MARIE AMPÈRE
1775–1836
French physicist and mathematician who developed a mathematical theory that explained the basic
effects of electromagnetism

JOSEPH HENRY & MICHAEL FARADAY

1797–1878 & 1791–1867
American physicist and English physicist and chemist who independently discovered electromagnetic
induction in 1830 and 1831 respectively

30-SECOND TEXT
Sharon Ann Holgate

Ampère’s theoretical work encouraged Faraday to investigate

electromagnetism, creating motors and generators.
QED
the 30-second theory

An essential conversion of energy in nature involves the interaction of light and

matter, often given the acronym QED for ‘quantum electrodynamics’. QED
operates at the level of quantum particles, something that was originally
demonstrated in the photoelectric effect. In a typical QED interaction, an
incoming photon of light is absorbed by one of the electrons that is part of an
atom. The energy that was in the photon is converted into potential energy in
the electron, which now occupies a higher orbit around the nucleus. This
mechanism became the foundation of quantum physics, as the electron cannot
occupy orbits of all possible potential energies, but only specific fixed levels,
between which it jumps in a quantum leap. Often the electron will drop back
down to a lower level at a later time, giving off a photon of light energy in the
process. Even when we don’t see light involved, such exchanges are constantly
happening. For example, when two pieces of matter interact – when you sit on
a chair, for instance – photons are exchanged between the electrons in the
atoms of the two objects, carrying the electromagnetic force that means that
you sit on a chair rather than sliding straight through it.

3-SECOND THRASH
Light energy in photons is absorbed by electrons in atoms and re-emitted; this is central to the
interactions of light and matter, and of matter with other matter.

3-MINUTE THOUGHT
QED has its share of complex mathematical equations, but it is unusual in physics in also having a
mechanism of representation that is intuitive and simple. This involves Feynman diagrams, named
after their charismatic inventor, Richard Feynman. The diagrams represent the different ways that
particles can interact – photons are shown as wiggly lines and matter particles as straight lines.
Although apparently simplistic, the diagrams are used as the basis for structuring calculations and
approximations.

RELATED TOPICS
See also
POTENTIAL ENERGY
RADIATION
SOLAR

3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
PAUL DIRAC
1902–84
English physicist who laid the groundwork for QED

RICHARD FEYNMAN
1918–88
American physicist who won the 1965 Nobel Prize for physics for his work on QED alongside Julian
Schwinger and Sin’ichirŌ Tomonaga

30-SECOND TEXT
Brian Clegg

Photons of light act as the carriers of electromagnetic energy, for

example between the atoms in a person and the atoms in a chair,
allowing the chair to provide support.
CHARLES ALGERNON PARSONS

When we consider the origins of electricity

generation, it is natural to think of Michael
Faraday and the device that converts mechanical
energy into electrical. However, for more than
100 years, the standard mechanism for
producing such mechanical energy from the
chemical energy of fuel via heat has been the
steam turbine, invented in its modern form by
Charles Algernon Parsons.
In the history of science, Parsons tends to be
overshadowed by his father William, who built
the then largest telescope in the world, the
‘Leviathan of Parsonstown’, at his home Birr
Castle in Ireland. However, Charles has had a far
larger impact on our everyday lives.
The youngest of four sons, Charles Parsons
studied at Trinity College, Dublin, and then St
John’s College, Cambridge. At the time, the
youngest son of an earl was likely to go into the
clergy or the military, but Parsons, fascinated by
mechanical and electrical engineering, took an
apprenticeship at W. G. Armstrong (later
Armstrong Whitworth) in Newcastle. After some
time working in military and electrical engineering, while at Clarke, Chapman and Co., Armstrong
developed an effective steam turbine, using multiple sets of turbine blades to break down the steam
pressure to manageable levels. Although Parsons’ invention was predated by a turbine produced by
the Swedish engineer Gustaf de Laval, the way that Parsons designed his device with multiple
blades made all the difference for practical usability.
Soon after, Parsons set up his own firm, C. A. Parsons and Co., based in Newcastle, to produce
turbine-driven generators. He would go on to produce turbine engines for ships, with the first liners
to use them going into service in 1905 and the first battleship in 1906. However, this use is dwarfed
in importance by the role that steam turbines play in electricity generation. Whether the power
station is using coal, gas, oil or nuclear power, the mechanism for turning the heat produced by the
furnace or reactor into electrical generation remains the steam turbine. And Charles Algernon
Parsons is the man behind the technology. His Heaton factory was taken over by Siemens Energy,
and still runs as the C. A. Parsons Works.
Although Parsons’ place of death is given as Kingston, Jamaica, he died while on a Caribbean
cruise with his wife. His body was brought back to London, with a memorial service held in
Westminster Abbey, before being buried at his local parish church in the village of Kirkwhelpington,
Northumberland.

Brian Clegg

1854
Born in London, UK
1877
Graduates from Cambridge University

1883
Marries Katharine Bethell

1884
Develops turbine engine at Clarke, Chapman and Co.

1889
Founds C.A. Parsons and Co.

1890
Parsons’ Newcastle and District Lighting Company builds world’s first turbine power station

1897
Demonstrates first turbine-powered vessel, Turbinia, faster than any Royal Navy ship

1898
Elected fellow of the Royal Society

1911
Knighted by George V

1925
Follows his father’s interest in astronomy by buying the Grubb Telescope Company, which became
Grubb Parsons

1929
Awarded the Order of Merit

1931
Dies in Kingston, Jamaica
TURBINES
the 30-second theory

A turbine is a device that employs rotary motion to convert energy from one
form or another into usable work. Early precursors include windmills and
waterwheels, and in their modern forms both wind and water turbines are used
to generate electricity. Also widespread in this context are steam turbines,
which obtain their energy from heat – either through the burning of coal or oil,
or from a nuclear reactor. As with any steam engine, a steam turbine involves
external combustion. In contrast, a gas turbine relies on internal combustion of
a fuel-air mixture. In engines of this type, the shaft of the turbine is used to
drive a large fan-like compressor that draws air into the combustion chamber.
The shaft can also be used to perform external work – for example, by driving
the propeller of a ship or a ‘turboprop’ aircraft. However, if there is no external
load on the shaft, most of the energy generated by the engine goes into pushing
out the exhaust plume – the hot gases from the turbine mixed with cooler
airflow from the compressor. This results in a net thrust, and is the principle
behind the ‘turbofan’ jet engines found on most modern airliners and military
aircraft.

3-SECOND THRASH
Turbines produce power via rotary motion; wind, water and steam turbines are used in electricity
generation, while gas turbines are found in ships and aircraft.

3-MINUTE THOUGHT
Most modern diesel cars are ‘turbodiesels’, which employ a small turbine – called a turbocharger –
designed to boost the engine’s power and efficiency by increasing the amount of air inside the
cylinders prior to combustion. In effect, a turbocharger is a miniature jet engine that uses some of the
waste energy from the car’s exhaust gases to drive a rotating compressor fan. This fan then forces air
into the engine at higher than atmospheric pressure.

RELATED TOPICS
See also
EXTERNAL COMBUSTION
INTERNAL COMBUSTION
WIND

3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
CHARLES ALGERNON PARSONS
1854–1931
English engineer who designed and built the first steam turbine

FRANK WHITTLE
1907–96
English engineer who invented the jet engine, a gas turbine suited to aircraft propulsion

30-SECOND TEXT
Andrew May

The turbine was first designed to employ steam to produce power,

but would also prove an essential component in the design of the jet
engine.
OceanofPDF.com
GOING GREEN
GOING GREEN
GLOSSARY

absolute temperature Temperature scales such as Celsius are based on

arbitrary fixed points such as the freezing and boiling points of water. An
absolute scale starts at the lowest possible temperature, absolute zero.

chemical feedstocks Source materials for the chemical constituents of a

product, for example the hydrocarbons used to produce plastics.

Chernobyl accident In April 1986, an explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear

power station in Ukraine resulted in significant radioactive fallout across
Europe.

dry steam field Steam is usually a mixture of water vapour and hot liquid
droplets. However, superheated steam, which is above water’s boiling point,
has no water droplets and is sometimes called dry steam. Natural geysers
producing superheated steam form a dry steam field.

Earth crust, mantle and core The Earth has three major layers: the crust, 5–
75 kilometres (3–47 miles) thick; the mantle, around 2,800 kilometres (1,740
miles) deep; and the core, extending around 3,500 kilometres (2,175 miles)
from the Earth’s centre. The core is mostly molten metal with a solid inner
section.

energy density Amount of usable energy per unit mass of an energy storage
product.

Fukushima In March 2011, a tsunami damaged the coolant system of a nuclear

reactor in Fukushima, Japan, causing meltdowns and release of radioactivity.

greenhouse and toxic gases underground When water hits molten rock
underground it produces steam that can be used to drive turbines. Such steam
may contain greenhouse gases such as methane and nitrous oxide, and toxic
gases such as hydrogen sulphide and carbon monoxide.

heat pump Device that uses energy to transfer heat from a cooler to a hotter
place, for example a refrigerator.
magma chamber Large volume of underground molten rock. Under high
pressure, it can force itself upwards, causing a volcanic eruption.

nuclear chain reaction In nuclear fission, the nucleus of an atom is hit by a

neutron, splitting into two. If this reaction produces two or more neutrons, each
can split another nucleus, producing a self-sustaining chain of reactions.

nuclear fission Splitting of the central nucleus of a heavy atom, such as

uranium, producing lighter elements, neutrons and energy. This is the energy
source of all current nuclear power plants.

nuclear fusion Merging of two or more light atomic nuclei, such as hydrogen,
to produce a heavier nucleus and energy. This is the energy source of the Sun
and experimental fusion reactors.

nuclear power and nuclear weapons All early nuclear power stations were
designed to produce material for nuclear weapons. This has meant that
development has focused on reactors that are not the best for generation
purposes.

pebble-bed reactor Alternative design for nuclear reactors in which the fuel is
provided in tennis-ball sized spherical ‘pebbles’. Should the system overheat, it
stops producing the slow neutrons needed for a nuclear reaction, automatically
shutting down.

quantum theory Physics theory describing the behaviour of the very small
particles that make up matter and light.

reaction nozzle Simple turbine, in which the rotor is turned by squirting out
liquid at an angle to the direction of motion. It is most familiar in lawn
sprinklers.

Salter’s duck Officially the Edinburgh duck, an early device for converting the
energy of waves into electricity.

second law of thermodynamics Sometimes paraphrased as ‘things run down’,

the second law says that in an isolated system, when two bodies are in contact,
heat flows from the hotter to the colder. This can be phrased as entropy – the
level of disorder in the system – stays the same or increases.
tectonic plates Large-scale plates of rock covering the surface of the Earth that
gradually move, causing mountains to form at their boundaries, also triggering
earthquakes and volcanoes.

tidal energy Energy production using the motion of the water due to tides.
BIOFUELS
the 30-second energy

Biomass is any organic material that can be considered a source of energy. This
may be because it can be immediately burned (for example, wood) or
converted into useful fuels (for example, crops grown for liquid biofuels such
as ethanol and biodiesel). While fossil fuels can be considered fossilized
biomass, in common usage the term refers to matter that can be produced
relatively quickly (rarely taking more than a year) and so is referred to as a
renewable resource. Biomass is the primary source of energy for over half the
planet’s population even though it provides only about one-eighth of the
world’s energy needs. The most significant biofuel is ethanol, which can be
made by fermenting the sugars in any plant – corn is typically used. Today,
ethanol is often added to petrol; this blend is identified by the letter ‘E’ with a
number signifying the percentage after it. For example, E10 petrol contains 10
per cent ethanol. Unfortunately, ethanol has roughly half the energy density of
petrol. Similarly, biodiesel, typically formed from oils extracted from crops
such as soya beans, sunflower seeds or rapeseed, can be blended with diesel in
small amounts (B5 = 5 per cent biodiesel). Crops aren’t the only possible
source of biofuels. Research is currently taking place into sourcing them from
fungi and gut bacteria.

3-SECOND THRASH
Biofuel is any organic matter turned into a useful fuel that can be grown quickly – that is, within the
space of about a year.

3-MINUTE THOUGHT
Biofuels have several advantages over other fuels. They can be grown around the world and suit
different levels of technological development, they’re almost carbon neutral and they can be used as
chemical feedstocks for materials such as plastics and pharmaceuticals. But there are drawbacks:
biofuels absorb nutrients from the soil, which means a greater need for fertilizers, and they require a
lot of water. Also, they use land that might instead have been useful for growing food crops.

RELATED TOPICS
See also
CHEMICAL ENERGY
COAL
OIL

3-SECOND BIOGRAPHY
HENRY FORD
1863–1947
American inventor and industrialist who declared ethanol to be the ‘fuel of the future’. His Model T was
designed to run on ethanol and petrol

30-SECOND TEXT
Simon Flynn

Although we traditionally produce carbon fuels from fossil sources,

biofuels use crops to take carbon from the atmosphere.
SOLAR
the 30-second energy

Around 90 billion megawatts of solar power hits the Earth, more than 7,000
times total global consumption. All we need to do is get some of that energy
into a usable form. This often means using photovoltaic solar cells, converting
sunlight to electricity – but we can use the light more directly, from the
domestic heating approach of putting tubes of water into sunlight, to high-tech
solar plants, where arrays of mirrors focus the Sun’s energy to heat water, or
nitrate salts that can reach 600°C (1,112°F). However, photovoltaic cells
remain the core approach to harnessing solar energy. These rely on the light
boosting the energy of electrons in special materials, which release those
electrons as a flow of electricity. As the costs drop and efficiency of converting
light energy into electricity rises, solar cells become more practical. It has been
suggested that the whole of Europe could be supplied by solar farms in North
Africa, using high-voltage direct current (DC) transmission to carry the energy
to consumer countries – but such a supply would be politically risky. Most
countries prefer a mix of sources, and the limit of sunlight to daytime means
solar could only be dominant with advanced storage technologies.

3-SECOND THRASH
Solar energy is readily available in large quantities during daylight, but at the moment there is a trade-
off between efficiency and cost for photovoltaic solar cells.

3-MINUTE THOUGHT
Some have suggested that the best long-term solar solution is to assemble vast solar panels in space,
where there is no weather to reduce the efficiency of conversion. The problem then is how to get the
energy back down to Earth. The proposal is to do this by firing intense beams of microwaves through
the atmosphere – which would then be converted back to electricity at a ground station. This
inevitably has significant practical and safety issues.

RELATED TOPICS
See also
BATTERIES
RADIATION
QED

3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
WILLIAM HERSCHEL
1738–1822
German-born British astronomer who discovered infrared radiation in sunlight

CHARLES FRITTS
1850–1903
American inventor who devised the first working selenium photovoltaic cell in 1883

ALBERT EINSTEIN
1879–1955
German physicist whose paper explaining the photoelectric effect won him the Nobel Prize

30-SECOND TEXT
Brian Clegg

The Sun provides more energy than we are ever likely to need, with
a range of technologies able to capure it.
WIND
the 30-second energy

Wind generation is one of the most visible sources of green energy – but it
engenders controversy. The theory is good – there is ‘free’ energy whenever the
wind is blowing. An individual turbine can generate 3–5 megawatts (MW),
with large windfarms producing around 500–1,000 MW, comparable in output
to a large conventional power station. However, there is one practical issue –
and three environmental concerns. Practically, unless there are large-scale
storage facilities to hold energy until needed, wind power’s inconsistency
means it will always need back-up sources. Of the environmental concerns, the
danger to birdlife is perhaps exaggerated. Although wind turbines do sustain
bird strikes, a turbine causes fewer bird injuries than a single cat. More
significant are visual and noise pollution. These 60–90 metres (200–300 ft)
towers with twin blades are hard to ignore and many think they spoil natural
landscapes. Although this problem can be overcome by siting turbines offshore,
this raises the cost significantly. Noise pollution is also a genuine problem for
those living close to a turbine, meaning that siting needs to be carefully judged.
Although wind generation has dropped somewhat in favour, its contribution to
world energy doubles every three years and it remains an important contributor
to a sustainable green energy balance.

3-SECOND THRASH
A wind farm can produce comparable energy to a conventional power station and is low-carbon, but
output is more variable and the technology has environmental issues.

3-MINUTE THOUGHT
Wind power is, in effect, redirected solar energy, with the weather system acting as an intermediary.
Energy from sunlight differentially heats different parts of the atmosphere. Air molecules are always
zooming around, but wind results from concerted movement. As warmer air rises and cooler air sinks,
masses of air begins to move. Combine this with the effect of the planet’s rotation and the result is
that air begins to travel from place to place as wind.

RELATED TOPICS
See also
KINETIC ENERGY
TURBINES
SOLAR

3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
HERO OF ALEXANDRIA
fl. c. 62 ce
Greek engineer who used a wind turbine to power an organ

JAMES BLYTH
1839–1906
Scottish engineer who produced the first electricity-generating wind turbine

POUL LA COUR
1846–1908
Danish inventor who constructed the first wind generator to be used for domestic power

30-SECOND TEXT
Brian Clegg

These present-day windmills capture otherwise unused natural

energy and can be sited offshore to minimise visual impact.
HYDRO
the 30-second energy

Of all the green sources of energy, hydropower has been used for the longest
time, predating even wind power. Initially hydropower was a purely
mechanical concept. The kinetic energy of streams and rivers, derived from
potential energy as the water ran downhill, was turned into mechanical work to
power mills and saws. Hydropower then took the lead in electricity generation
– the first hydroelectric power station at Lord Armstrong’s house, Cragside in
Northumberland, began generating electricity in 1878. The dramatic force of
Niagara Falls was brought online as an electricity generator just one year later.
For a considerable period of the twentieth century, hydroelectric power
stations, making use of dams to produce their potential energy, were the only
significant renewable electricity generation source. These projects have
become less common in the West in recent years, as the environmental and
social impact of projects that can involve leaving whole towns underwater have
made giant dams controversial. However, development has continued, for
example, in China, where the Three Gorges Dam in Hubei province opened
between 2003 and 2012, gradually adding capacity to reach an output of 22,500
megawatts, comparable to around 30 conventional power stations.

3-SECOND THRASH
Hydropower uses the kinetic energy of moving water to push wheels, creating usable energy. Some of
the largest single power stations are now hydro-based.

3-MINUTE THOUGHT
For hydropower you need a body of water higher than its surroundings, so that the potential energy of
the water – which is converted to kinetic energy as it runs downwards under the pull of gravity – can
power a turbine. The energy source that makes this possible is the Sun: it evaporates water from sea
level and powers its transfer by convection through the atmosphere, followed by precipitation as rain
at higher altitudes.

RELATED TOPICS
See also
POTENTIAL ENERGY
GRAVITY
WATER STORAGE

3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
JOHANN SEGNER
1704–77
Hungarian scientist who devised the first practical water turbine based on reaction nozzles

JACOB SCHOELLKOPF
1819–99
German-American industrialist behind the Niagara Falls hydroelectric power station

30-SECOND TEXT
Brian Clegg

Segner’s eighteenth-century water turbine was a simple device, but

large-scale hydroelectric power plants can produce the same
output as multiple conventional power stations.
WILLIAM THOMSON, LORD KELVIN

William Thomson was many things: a

mathematician, physicist (he did much to
establish physics as a discipline) and engineer,
but also a public celebrity and the first British
scientist to be made a lord. Born in Belfast of
Scottish heritage, he studied mathematics at
Cambridge before becoming professor of natural
philosophy in Glasgow University.
Thomson became famous partly for his
expertise in electricity and electrical technology,
advising on the laying of the first transatlantic
telegraph cables in the 1850s and 1860s. That
operation was dogged by technical problems, but
its eventual success led to Thomson’s
knighthood and to public adulation.
But it was in the new science of
thermodynamics that Thomson made his greatest
contributions to science. He was one of the first
to appreciate the enormous, even cosmic,
ramifications of the discipline. He proposed an
absolute temperature scale (the units of which
are now named after him: Kelvin), interpreted
heat as a form of motion and laid the foundations
of the second law of thermodynamics.
All that did not obscure Thomson’s appreciation of the practical side of thermodynamics. It was,
after all, devised to help explain the engines of the Industrial Revolution, and in 1852 Thomson
himself proposed a new kind of energy-generating device: the heat pump. This transfers (‘pumps’)
heat energy against its normal direction, absorbing it from a cooler source and moving it to a warmer
sink. This process, familiar from refrigerators and air conditioners, requires an external source of
power. The device can be run in reverse to produce heating, and Thomson, who described the
thermodynamic theory of such a device, hoped that it might be used both to warm and to cool
houses.
Thomson illustrates the hazards of becoming a ‘public scientist’. In his later years he was fêted
and consulted by the press as an expert, while looking increasingly out of touch to his peers. He is
often remembered now as someone always just behind the curve of fin-de-siècle science. His huge
underestimation of the age of the Earth, based on a calculation of its rate of heat loss, came just as
the discovery of radioactivity supplied a hitherto unsuspected heat source. He doubted that aviation
would be possible. Although the popular notion that he pronounced physics finished except for
increasing precision – just as quantum theory was about to explode on the scene – seems to be false,
it fits with the image of the older Thomson as a man no longer in touch with the discipline he helped
to launch.

Philip Ball

1824
Born in Belfast, UK; his father, James Thomson, subsequently becomes professor of mathematics at
Glasgow University

1845
Graduates in mathematics from Cambridge University

1846
Appointed to the chair of natural philosophy at Glasgow University

1857
Sails on an unsuccessful expedition to lay the first transatlantic telegraph cable

1864
Estimates the age of Earth at 20 million to 400 million years, which seems too short for Darwinian
evolution. He later refined his estimation to between 20 and 40 million years

1866
Knighted by Queen Victoria for his services to the transatlantic cable project, which had now
succeeded

1867
Publishes, with Peter Guthrie Tait, the highly influential textbook Treatise on Natural Philosophy

1892
Becomes Baron Kelvin of Largs in Ayrshire

1907
Dies in Largs, aged 83
WAVES
the 30-second energy

Seawater is constantly in motion due to the wind passing over its surface – and,
like the movement of water harnessed by hydropower, this can be used to
generate electricity. Wave power is one of the most recent green technologies to
become practical: it wasn’t until the end of the twentieth century that wave
energy became a potentially cost-effective source. Because the technology has
yet to reach the mass-production status of, say, wind turbines, it remains
expensive, and there are still many experimental technologies in play. These
divide into systems that rely on the up-and-down movement of a floating
device to harness kinetic energy; systems in which waves impact a device
causing side-to-side motion; and systems in which the wave is used to transfer
water into a reservoir, producing potential energy to be harnessed. Although the
energy in waves varies considerably with the weather, it is rare that there is no
wave energy available, making this approach more consistent than some green
sources. But as yet the output is limited. The world’s largest wave farm off
Scotland started at 3 MW output and will eventually reach 40 MW; compare
this with the largest solar farms at around 600 MW and wind farms of up to
6,000 MW.

3-SECOND THRASH
Wave power provides a green source of energy that is weather-dependent but less variable than wind
or solar; at the moment, outputs are relatively small.

3-MINUTE THOUGHT
Another significant seawater energy source is the tide – along with geothermal and nuclear, one of the
few energy sources that isn’t directly or indirectly powered by sunlight, but rather by the gravitational
pull of the Moon and Sun. Tidal stations are often built or planned across bays and estuaries, typically
providing higher output than waves – the proposed UK Severn barrage would generate an average
output of around 2,000 MW – but tend to have higher environmental impact than wave stations.

RELATED TOPICS
See also
KINETIC ENERGY
TURBINES
HYDRO

3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
YOSHIO MASUDA
1925–2009
Japanese naval expert who was the first major proponent of wave energy

STEPHEN SALTER
born 1938
South African-born engineer whose ‘Salter’s duck’ was one of the first practical designs for wave
energy collection

30-SECOND TEXT
Brian Clegg

Tidal and wave-powered generators can be costly but they are less
intermittent renewable energy resources than wind or air.
GEOTHERMAL
the 30-second energy

Geothermal energy is provided by heat stored in the Earth. At shallow depths,

say 3–4.5 metres (10–15 ft), a temperature of 10–15°C (50–59°F) is
maintained. Heat pumps enable this constant temperature to be used to cool
buildings in the summer and warm them during the winter by transferring heat
from hot to cold. Any miner will tell you that as you dig deeper the temperature
increases. In the upper part of the Earth’s crust, and away from tectonic plate
boundaries, temperature increases on average by 25–30°C (45–54°F) per
kilometre depth. Higher temperature gradients occur where tectonic plates meet
(for example, in Iceland) or in places that sit on top of large magma chambers
(such as Yellowstone Park in the United States). In locations like these, steam
may be used to produce electricity by driving turbines. This can be achieved
because of the existence of underground reservoirs of steam or water above
100°C (212°F), which is kept in liquid form because of extreme pressure. As
the latter gets nearer the Earth’s surface, pressure drops and it turns into steam.
These reservoirs can often be replenished, making geothermal a renewable
resource. Issues include the possibility of an increase in the release of
greenhouse and toxic gases stored underground and the fact that the power
plants are location-specific.

3-SECOND THRASH
Geothermal energy, heat stored within Earth, can be used to warm and cool buildings anywhere and
to produce electricity.

3-MINUTE THOUGHT
The temperature of the Earth’s core is about 6,000°C (10,832°F), similar to the Sun’s surface. As heat
always transfers from hot to cold, this results in energy flowing outwards to the Earth’s surface. A
legacy of the Earth’s formation, this temperature was very probably even higher 4 billion years ago.
Another source of energy is the radioactive decay of potassium-40, thorium-232, uranium-235 and
uranium-238, found in the Earth’s crust, mantle and core.

RELATED TOPICS
See also
HEAT
NUCLEAR ENERGY
FISSION

3-SECOND BIOGRAPHY
PIERO GINORI CONTI
1865–1939
Italian businessman who, in 1904, built the first geothermal power generator, which used a dry steam
field in Tuscany

30-SECOND TEXT
Simon Flynn

Earth’s interior gets hotter towards the core, enabling pipes sunk
deep into the ground to tap into a natural source of heat.
NUCLEAR
the 30-second energy

Nuclear power is the most controversial energy source considered green. It is

environmentally friendly in the sense that its use reduces greenhouse gas
emissions, but the need to store waste over extremely long timescales, and the
fact that it tends to create fear – related to the association of nuclear power
stations with nuclear weapons, and reactor accidents at Chernobyl and
Fukushima – mean that many green organizations campaign against nuclear
power. However, some environmental experts, such as James Lovelock, argue
forcibly that nuclear power (alongside resources like wind and waves) is the
only option that will enable us to move away from coal and gas. Many of the
problems with existing fusion reactors reflect their ageing design. For example,
there is a form of nuclear plant known as a pebble-bed reactor that is inherently
incapable of meltdown. But developing new nuclear power stations is
extremely expensive and at the time of writing faces considerable resistance.
Current nuclear reactors make use of nuclear fission, but the greenest option is,
without doubt, nuclear fusion, the power source of the Sun, which produces far
less waste. It is highly unlikely, however, that we will see a commercial nuclear
fusion reactor before the middle of the twenty-first century.

3-SECOND THRASH
Nuclear power is green because, unlike fossil fuels, it does not generate greenhouse gases; but fission
is increasingly politically sensitive, while practical fusion is decades away.

3-MINUTE THOUGHT
An alternative to the traditional uranium-235 fission plant is a reactor based on thorium. Mined
thorium-232 is treated (potentially by the same reactor) to produce uranium-233, which splits when
hit by a neuron, producing further neurons. Thorium is more abundant than uranium, produces far
less radioactive waste in the process and can be made meltdown-proof. But development has been
slow because such reactors aren’t good sources of materials for nuclear weapons, meaning that
funding has been limited.

RELATED TOPICS
See also
NUCLEAR ENERGY
FISSION
FUSION

3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
GEORGE PAGET THOMSON
1892–1975
English physicist who, with Moses Blackman, had the first patent on a nuclear fusion reactor
LEO SZILARD
1898–1964
Hungarian physicist who realized the practicality of the nuclear chain reaction

30-SECOND TEXT
Brian Clegg

Traditional nuclear reactors are green on carbon emissions but

produce dangerous waste; in the future, fusion reactors offer the
potential of cleaner, safer power plants.
OceanofPDF.com
ENERGY & ENTROPY
ENERGY & ENTROPY
GLOSSARY

applied thermodynamics Thermodynamics is the study of the movement of

heat. Its practical application is usually to devices that use heat to produce
work, such as steam turbines.

Big Bang Best accepted theory of the origin of the universe. The ‘Big Bang’ is
strictly the point in time at which the universe began to expand.

black hole A star that has undergone gravitational collapse to become a

dimensionless point. Although not detectable directly, many apparent black
holes have been discovered from their effect on their surroundings.

Boltzmann’s constant A key value in understanding the behaviour of gases,

the Boltzmann constant, which is around 1.38064853×10−23 J/K (joules per
kilogram), fixes the relationship between the pressure, volume and temperature
of a gas and the number of molecules present.

bomb calorimeter A calorimeter measures the amount of heat produced by a

reaction. In a bomb calorimeter, fuel is burned in an enclosed container
(usually pressurized), heating water to measure the energy released.

closed system System with no matter flowing into it or out from it – although
heat can be exchanged with other parts of the universe. Confusingly, the term is
also used for an isolated system.

cosmic inflation A mechanism to explain why the universe appears to be more

uniform than the Big Bang theory predicted, inflation was a vast increase in the
volume of the universe that took place in a fraction of a second, around 10–35
seconds into the existence of the universe.

dark energy The expansion of the universe is accelerating. Something must be

powering this acceleration – this unknown ‘something’ is called dark energy.
The total dark energy appears to be around 68 per cent of all mass/energy.

entropy Measure of the disorder in a system, important in understanding heat,

its distribution and its use. Entropy can be statistically determined as the
number of distinguishable different ways to arrange the component parts of a
system.

equilibrium state When a system is in thermodynamic equilibrium, internal

heat flows balance out, so there is no net flow from one place to another. The
existence of stars and other generators of heat mean that the universe is not in
equilibrium.

isolated system System in which no energy or matter flows in or out – it is

entirely isolated from the universe around it.

lower energy quantum state Quantum systems, such as atoms, give off energy
when they drop to a lower quantum state. It is theoretically possible (although
unlikely) that the apparent minimum energy level of the universe is a plateau,
stable but not the actual lowest state. If so, quantum effects could cause the
universe to drop catastrophically to an even lower energy state.

randomness/disorder Randomness is a lack of detectable patterns. In entropy,

disorder reflects the number of ways an object’s component parts can be
organized – the more different ways, the higher the disorder. For instance, the
letters in a specific book are organized in a particular way, but if the letters
were scrambled up there would be very many more ways to arrange them,
making them more disordered.

Rankine cycle/engine Mechanism of steam turbines, such as those in most

power stations, used to convert heat into work. It was devised by Scottish
engineer William Rankine.

spacetime German physicist Hermann Minkowski devised the concept of

spacetime, a four-dimensional combination of space and time that is essential
to understanding Einstein’s special theory of relativity.

statistical mechanics Mostly used to predict the thermodynamic behaviour of

gases, statistical mechanics takes a probabilistic view of the behaviour of a
system averaged across its many different components.

time’s arrow The ‘direction’ of time seems to point towards the future. This is
thought to be the result of thermodynamics and the requirement for entropy to
stay the same or increase.
WHAT IS ENTROPY?
the 30-second theory

Entropy is often described as a measure of the disorder in a system – the more

entropy, the higher the disorder. It is the reason why not all energy can be
converted into useful work and why some energy is always ‘lost’ in machines –
why, for example, a car wastes energy on heating the engine, generating noise
and vibrating the bodywork rather than using it all to propel the vehicle
forward. Entropy is a statistical concept, describing a system as a whole rather
than its individual components. We can measure the volume, temperature,
pressure and energy of a system and calculate its entropy even though we do
not know exactly how all the atoms and molecules within are individually
moving. Unlike energy, entropy can be created. Entropy is a measure of all the
different possible ways that a system can be arranged at a microscopic level. As
the number of particles within a system increases, or the space available for
them to move about in expands or the energy within the system grows, the
number of possible different states of the system increases – and so entropy
increases. Machines work by constraining the number of possible states – or
entropy – within them, which means that some entropy must escape, taking
with it energy as, say, noise, vibration and waste heat.

3-SECOND THRASH
Entropy measures the number of different states a system can occupy and is the reason why some
energy in machines and engines is always lost.

3-MINUTE THOUGHT
Even black holes have entropy. Black holes are regions of spacetime with gravitational fields so strong
that nothing, including light, can escape. Physicists Stephen Hawking and Jacob Bekenstein showed
that entropy is proportional to the surface area of a black hole’s event horizon (or boundary). So as a
black hole gobbles up more stuff, it becomes more massive and expands, growing its event horizon
surface area and so increasing its entropy.

RELATED TOPICS
See also
THE SECOND LAW
INCREASING DISORDER
THE CLOSED SYSTEM

3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
RUDOLF CLAUSIUS
1822–88
German physicist who first described this unavoidable energy dissipation mathematically and gave it
the name entropy

LUDWIG BOLTZMANN
1844–1906
Austrian physicist who underpinned the concept of entropy in statistical terms and showed that
disorder tends towards a maximum

30-SECOND TEXT
Leon Clifford

Entropy can be reduced, but always at the cost of energy – in a

machine where entropy is constrained, energy will always be lost in
the process.
THE SECOND LAW
the 30-second theory

In thermodynamics, the second law explains why heat flows from hot objects
to their cooler surroundings and not vice versa. It is the reason why the
contents of a refrigerator would warm to room temperature if its motor stopped
pumping out heat to maintain a temperature difference between the inside of
the fridge and the air around. In scientific terms, the second law states that the
total entropy of an isolated system – the number of possible states that a system
may occupy – stays the same or increases over time. It means that entropy can
be created even though energy cannot. It also means that as the entropy of a
system increases so the energy within that system tends to get dissipated,
spread out and shared between all the components of that system rather than
remaining concentrated in particular places. This is why hot drinks surrender
heat and grow cool while cold drinks absorb heat and grow warm, until they
reach the same temperature as the surrounding air. The second law also implies
that natural processes tend to go in only one direction and, left to themselves,
are irreversible. So hot objects in cooler surroundings invariably cool rather
than warm, balloons naturally deflate rather than spontaneously inflate and fire
inevitably converts wood into flames, ash and smoke and not the other way
round.

3-SECOND THRASH
The second law of thermodynamics explains why your coffee gets cold and why many natural
processes tend to only run in one direction.

3-MINUTE THOUGHT
Does the second law of thermodynamics apply to our universe? If so, then the universe may end in
‘heat death’. Matter will decompose into its constituent particles and energy will be dissipated among
those particles, which will move randomly through space for eternity. Everything will cool to the same
temperature – a minute fraction of a degree above absolute zero. And it will stay that way. In utter
darkness. Forever.

RELATED TOPICS
See also
WHAT IS ENTROPY?
INCREASING DISORDER
THE CLOSED SYSTEM

3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
RUDOLF CLAUSIUS & LORD KELVIN
1822–88 & 1824–1907
German and Scottish-Irish physicists who independently formulated equivalent definitions of the
second law of thermodynamics

JAMES CLERK MAXWELL

1831–79
Scottish physicist who conceived a thought experiment suggesting that the second law could be
violated

30-SECOND TEXT
Leon Clifford

At its simplest, the second law of thermodynamics tells us that heat

flows from hotter to cooler bodies.
INCREASING DISORDER
the 30-second theory

One way of thinking about entropy is in terms of order and disorder – or

randomness. So, for example, an ice cube is a highly ordered lattice of water
molecules but the puddle left after it has melted is a pool of randomly moving
water molecules and is much less ordered. As entropy increases, order
decreases and the amount of disorder, or randomness, grows. Since the second
law of thermodynamics says that entropy increases as energy is dissipated, this
implies that, over time, the amount of disorder and randomness in the universe
will inevitably grow. This idea of increasing disorder helps us to understand the
workings of the second law and why natural processes tend to run only one
way: in the direction of increasing entropy, that is, from more ordered states to
less ordered states. A glass vase is a very highly ordered arrangement of atoms
and molecules that can naturally break into a disordered mass of tiny shards but
it cannot reassemble itself. Similarly, an egg is a highly ordered structure of
biological compounds that can fall and become scrambled into a disorderly
mess but the process cannot be reversed. In any system, energy naturally
dissipates among all the components of that system, and as this happens
entropy grows, the system becomes less structured and more random, and
disorder increases.

3-SECOND THRASH
Entropy is equivalent to randomness or disorder so growing entropy means increasing disorder.

3-MINUTE THOUGHT
The seemingly inevitable drift towards increasing randomness and disorder in the universe may
explain why we experience time as running forwards and not backwards – the so-called arrow of time.
However, this apparent one-way flow may be a feature of our existence at the macroscopic level and
may not hold true at very small scales, where thermodynamics meets quantum mechanics. In the
quantum world, the direction of time is less obvious.

RELATED TOPICS
See also
WHAT IS ENTROPY?
THE SECOND LAW
THE CLOSED SYSTEM

3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
HERMANN VON HELMHOLTZ
1821–94
German physicist who was first to describe entropy in terms of disorder

JOSIAH WILLARD GIBBS

1839–1903
American mathematician who pioneered the mathematical understanding of entropy, particularly in
relation to chemical reactions

30-SECOND TEXT
Leon Clifford

We expect to see objects become more disordered with time unless

something intervenes – any of the processes illustrated here would
seem odd reversed.
THE CLOSED SYSTEM
the 30-second theory

Thermodynamics is a kind of energy accountancy: it describes how the

budgeting works as energy is moved around and transformed. As with any
accounting, this entails keeping a careful track of inflows and outflows. In the
simplest situation, no such flows are permitted: neither energy nor matter can
be added to or subtracted from the system. This is said to be an isolated system,
and generally has a well-defined equilibrium state in which no further change is
possible. Our physical universe is thought, virtually by definition, to be like
that, although if so it is currently far from attaining its equilibrium state. But
some systems can exchange energy, in the form of heat or work, with the
surroundings – while being unable to exchange matter. These are called closed
systems. A chemical reaction inside a sealed vessel is like this; so is a perfectly
sealed balloon, which will expand or contract at different temperatures and so
perform work on its environment. The former system is the basis of the bomb
calorimeter, used to measure the energy change of a chemical process. The
latter is like the piston chamber in a steam or combustion engine, where
mechanical motion is driven by volume changes in matter due to reaction or
heating. Closed systems are important both in fundamental and applied
thermodynamics.

3-SECOND THRASH
A closed system can exchange energy but not matter with its surroundings.

3-MINUTE THOUGHT
Most refrigerators can be considered closed systems. They work by compressing and expanding a
refrigerant fluid in a closed system of tubes. When the refrigerant is expanded and evaporates, it
absorbs heat energy from inside the device; on compression it condenses and releases the heat to the
outside. The early fridges used poisonous fluids such as ammonia as the refrigerant; if they were not
perfectly closed but leaked, they could be (and were) lethal.

RELATED TOPICS
See also
CONSERVATION OF ENERGY
THE SECOND LAW
INCREASING DISORDER

3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
WILLIAM RANKINE
1820–72
Scottish inventor of the Rankine engine, in which heat is delivered to a closed system generally
containing water: the basis of steam turbine technology

PIERRE EUGÈNE MARCELLIN BERTHELOT

1827–1907
French chemist who is regarded as the inventor of the bomb calorimeter for measuring heats of
combustion

30-SECOND TEXT
Philip Ball

We can make use of the flow of energy into and out of closed
systems to locally overcome the increase of entropy, performing
useful tasks.
MAXWELL’S DEMON
the 30-second theory

There’s plenty of energy in the random motions of atoms and molecules, but
we can’t get at it to do useful work. Or can we? In 1867, James Clerk Maxwell
argued that a tiny, sharp-eyed creature (later dubbed a demon) might open and
shut a frictionless trapdoor between two compartments to segregate fast-
moving (hot) and slow-moving (cool) gas molecules and thus create a
temperature difference that could be tapped as an energy source. This, Maxwell
knew, contravenes the second law of thermodynamics, which says that
temperature differences always get smoothed away as heat flows from hot to
cold – and entropy increases. It was Maxwell’s explicit intention to ‘pick a
hole’ in the second law with a situation in which entropy decreases. It took 100
years to figure out why Maxwell’s demon wouldn’t work. The problem is that
the demon would need to store huge amounts of information in its finite brain
while observing the molecules. In the 1960s scientists realized that this
information cannot be erased without generating entropy. So even if a demon
could induce a decrease in entropy, it would only be fleeting: the need to erase
information would more than recoup the lost entropy. The problem of
Maxwell’s demon links thermodynamics with information theory. It sets a
lower limit on the heat that must be dissipated when doing computation.

3-SECOND THRASH
Maxwell postulated his demon as a tiny being who, by closely observing molecular motions, could
subvert the second law of thermodynamics and engineer a decrease in entropy.

3-MINUTE THOUGHT
The problem of Maxwell’s demon shows that information itself can be converted to energy. Monitoring
and collecting detailed information on the random motions of a particle can create a resource that can
be used for ‘doing work’ on the particle – for example, raising it up against gravity. In 2010 a group of
Japanese scientists demonstrated this interconversion of energy and information for a plastic bead
moving randomly on a ‘staircase’ of electrical force.

RELATED TOPICS
See also
WHAT IS ENTROPY?
THE SECOND LAW
INCREASING DISORDER

3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
PETER GUTHRIE TAIT
1831–1901
Scottish scientist and expert on thermodynamics, who was the recipient of Maxwell’s 1867 letter
outlining the demon

ROLF LANDAUER
1927–99
German-American physicist who showed in 1961 that erasing one bit of information always dissipates
a certain amount of heat, and thus generates entropy

30-SECOND TEXT
Philip Ball

Maxwell envisaged a being opening and closing a door between

compartments, causing entropy to decrease without energy being
used.
LUDWIG BOLTZMANN

Ludwig Boltzmann’s scientific fame rests on his

contributions to statistical mechanics. Born in
Vienna, where he studied physics at the
university, he took professorships at Graz and
Berlin before returning to his hometown to take
up the chair in theoretical physics at the
university.
Statistical mechanics is the link between the
‘microscopic’ theory of how atoms and
molecules move about, and the ‘macroscopic’
theory of their behaviour at scales we can see,
encoded in the principles of thermodynamics
and invoking quantities such as pressure and
temperature. In the 1860s and the 1870s
Boltzmann, together with James Clerk Maxwell,
laid the foundations of statistical mechanical
theory by showing how the essentially random
motions of countless energetic molecules could
lead to steady, predictable relationships between
pressure, temperature and volume.
These ideas are often now assimilated into the broader discipline called statistical physics, which
deals with the laws governing huge numbers of interacting ‘particles’ of any kind – they might be
atoms or electrons, but could also be sand grains or flocking birds.
As a young man, while studying at the University of Vienna in the 1860s, Boltzmann was
introduced to Maxwell’s ‘kinetic theory’ of gases. Recognizing that it was neither possible nor
particularly meaningful to track all the movements of individual molecules, Maxwell argued that
what mattered to their large-scale thermodynamic behaviour was the statistical distribution of their
properties – their average velocities, say, and how broad the variations about that average value are.
Boltzmann was able to show that the distribution of speeds that Maxwell had merely assumed was in
fact the inevitable end result of a bunch of molecules moving at random.
Boltzmann’s most profound result was a statistical explanation of the second law of
thermodynamics, which says that in any spontaneous process in nature the total entropy always
increases. He identified entropy S – a measure of disorder – with the number W of equivalent
arrangements of the constituent particles. The relationship between them, S=klogW, is engraved on
his tombstone. Here k is a fundamental constant, now called Boltzmann’s constant. Entropy
increases, Boltzmann said, simply because that is overwhelmingly more likely: there are many more
ways of arranging particles in a more disorderly way than there are in an orderly way, and so
random motions are likely to increase the disorder.
Boltzmann’s ideas relied on the reality of atoms, for which there was no direct proof in the late
nineteenth century. Opposition to the idea contributed to a decline in his mental health in the 1900s,
leading him eventually to take his own life. Had he lived, many feel that he could have won the
Nobel Prize.

Philip Ball
1844
Born in Vienna, Austria

1859
Boltzmann’s father, Ludwig Georg, dies of tuberculosis, an event that haunted Ludwig for life

1866
Receives his doctorate from the University of Vienna, with a dissertation on the kinetic theory of
gases

1869
Appointed professor of mathematical physics at the University of Graz

1872
Publishes the Boltzmann equation, relating entropy to the probabilities of microstates of a system

1888
Accepts and then declines an offer from the University of Berlin – the first sign of a mental crisis

1890
Appointed professor of theoretical physics at the University of Munich

1893
Appointed to the University of Vienna, where he stays – apart from a brief spell at Leipzig

1895
Argues with Ernst Mach and Wilhelm Ostwald about the existence of atoms

1906
Commits suicide in Trieste, Italy
THE LIFE CYCLE OF THE UNIVERSE
the 30-second theory

The story of our universe is the story of its energy. Our universe probably
began as a subatomic bubble of spacetime that expanded enormously in an
instant, due to a process called cosmic inflation that resulted in a seething
cauldron of energy. This then exploded outwards in what we now think of as
the Big Bang. The universe has been expanding and cooling ever since,
according to the laws of thermodynamics. Mass and energy are equivalent and
all the particles that make up all the matter in our universe condensed out of the
initial energy of the Big Bang. Although it might seem that the energy of the
universe came from nowhere, it is balanced by the gravitational field, acting as
if it were negative energy. Our universe may continue expanding and cooling
forever; it may collapse in on itself, or it may be part of a cyclic pattern of
eternal expansion and contraction. Alternatively, dark energy could rip apart all
matter; or cosmic expansion may stretch the fabric of spacetime too far,
causing it to break down; or our universe may flip into a lower energy quantum
state, leading to what scientists call vacuum decay – which results in a bubble
of death expanding outwards across the whole cosmos at the speed of light.

3-SECOND THRASH
Our universe started small, dense and hot, and grows larger, colder and emptier but we do not know
how or even whether it will end.

3-MINUTE THOUGHT
Our ideas of beginnings and endings are intimately wrapped up with our concept of time and our
perception that it flows from the past and into the future. But what if the flow of time we experience is
an illusion – as some scientists believe? What if all that has been and all that ever will be actually
exists as an infinite block of unchanging spacetime, without any reality to movement through time?

RELATED TOPICS
See also
GRAVITY
INFLATION
DARK ENERGY

3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
STEVEN WEINBERG
born 1933
American particle physicist who suggested that the different forces of nature were once one and
suggested that they condensed separately out of the Big Bang

JULIAN BARBOUR & MAX TEGMARK

born 1937 & born 1967
English physicist and Swedish-born American cosmologist who have both suggested that our
experience of the passage of time may be illusory

30-SECOND TEXT
Leon Clifford

Despite its humble origins, thermodynamics provides our best

guide to the eventual possible fate of the universe.
OceanofPDF.com
RESOURCES

BOOKS
A Piece of the Sun
Daniel Cleary
(Duckworth, 2013)
A Rough Ride to the Future
James Lovelock
(Allen Lane, 2014)
Atmosphere of Hope
Tim Flannery
(Penguin, 2015)
Children of the Sun
Alfred W. Crosby
(Norton, 2006)
Energy: The Subtle Concept
Jennifer Coopersmith
(Oxford University Press, 2010)
Energy for Future Presidents
Richard A. Muller
(Norton, 2012)
Ludwig Boltzmann: The Man Who Trusted Atoms
Carlo Cercignani
(Oxford University Press, 1998)
Nuclear Power: A Very Short Introduction
Maxwell Irvine
(Oxford University Press, 2011)
Renewable Energy
Godfrey Boyle
(Oxford University Press, 2012)
Superfuel: Thorium, the Green Energy Source for the Future
Richard Martin
(Palgrave Macmillan, 2012)
The Quantum Age
Brian Clegg
(Icon, 2014)
The Solar Revolution
Steven McKevitt and Tony Ryan
(Icon, 2014)
Switch
Cgrus Goodall
(Profile, 2016)
Thermodynamics for Dummies
Mike Pauken
(Wiley, 2011)

ARTICLES
Demons, Entropy and the Quest for Absolute Zero
Scientific American, March 2011
www.scientificamerican.com
In Praise of Lord Kelvin
Physics World, December 2007
www.physicsworld.com
Have We All Been Here Before?
Focus, August 2008
www.sciencefocus.com
Recreating the Sun on Earth
Focus, April 2014
www.sciencefocus.com
The World in 2076: Goodbye Electricity, Hello Superconductivity
New Scientist, November 2016
www.newscientist.com
What is Heat?
Scientific American, September 1954
www.scientificamerican.com

WEBSITES
Environment – Energy
www.theguardian.com/environment/energy
Electricity
www.newscientist.com/article-topic/electricity
Energy
www.scientificamerican.com/energy
Energy and Fuels
www.newscientist.com/article-topic/energy-and-fuels
Nuclear Power
www.newscientist.com/article-topic/nuclear-power
Thermodynamics
www.khanacademy.org/science/physics/thermodynamics
Thermodynamics Advent Calendar
www.rigb.org/christmas-lectures/supercharged-fuelling-the-future/thermodynamics-2016-advent-
calendar

OceanofPDF.com
NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS

EDITOR
Brian Clegg read Natural Sciences, focusing on experimental physics, at the University of
Cambridge. After developing high-tech solutions for British Airways and working with creativity
guru Edward de Bono, he formed a creativity consultancy advising clients ranging from the BBC to
the Met Office. He has written for Nature, The Times and the Wall Street Journal and has lectured at
Oxford and Cambridge universities and the Royal Institution. He is editor of the book review site
www.popularscience.co.uk, and his own published titles include A Brief History of Infinity, How to
Build a Time Machine, The Reality Frame and Are Numbers Real?

FOREWORD
Professor Jim Al-Khalili OBE is a physicist, author and broadcaster based at the University of
Surrey. He received his PhD in theoretical nuclear physics in 1989 and has published over a hundred
research papers on quantum physics. His many popular science books have been translated into 26
languages. He is a recipient of the Royal Society Michael Faraday medal and the Institute of Physics
Kelvin Medal. Jim is a regular contributor to radio and television science programmes. In 2016 he
received the inaugural Stephen Hawking medal for science communication.

CONTRIBUTORS
Philip Ball is a freelance writer, and was an editor for Nature for more than 20 years. Trained as a
chemist at the University of Oxford, and as a physicist at the University of Bristol, he writes
regularly in the scientific and popular media, and has authored books including H2O: A Biography of
Water, Bright Earth: Art and the Invention of Colour, The Music Instinct: How Music Works and Why
We Can’t Do Without It and Curiosity: How Science Became Interested in Everything. His book
Critical Mass: How One Thing Leads to Another won the 2005 Aventis Prize for Science Books and
his latest book is The Water Kingdom: A Secret History of China. He has been awarded the American
Chemical Society’s Grady-Stack Award for interpreting chemistry to the public, and was the
inaugural recipient of the Lagrange Prize for communicating complex science.
Leon Clifford is managing director of science communications consultancy Green Ink Publishing
Services ltd. Leon has a BSc in physics-with-astrophysics and is a member of the Association of
British Science Writers. He worked for many years as a journalist covering science, technology and
business issues with articles appearing in numerous publications including Electronics Weekly,
Wireless World, Computer Weekly, New Scientist and The Telegraph. Leon is interested in all aspects
of physics – particularly climate science, astrophysics and particle physics.
Simon Flynn worked in publishing for fifteen years and is now a science teacher in London. He is
author of The Science Magpie: A Hoard of Fascinating Facts, Stories, Poems, Diagrams and Jokes
Plucked from Science and Its History, which Physics World chose as one of its top 10 books of 2012,
and a contributor to What if Einstein was Wrong? and 30-Second Newton.
Sharon Ann Holgate is a freelance science writer and broadcaster with a doctorate in physics. She
has written for newspapers and magazines including Science and New Scientist, and presented on
BBC Radio 4 and the BBC World Service. She was co-author of The Way Science Works, a children’s
popular science book shortlisted for the 2003 Junior Prize in the Aventis Prizes for Science Books,
and wrote the textbooks Understanding Solid State Physics and Outside the Research Lab – Volume
1: Physics in the arts, architecture and design. In 2006, Sharon Ann won Young Professional
Physicist of the Year for her work communicating physics.
Andrew May is a technical consultant and freelance writer on subjects ranging from astronomy and
quantum physics to defence analysis and military technology. After reading Natural Sciences at the
University of Cambridge in the 1970s, he went on to gain a PhD in Astrophysics from the University
of Manchester. Since then he has accumulated more than 30 years’ worth of diverse experience in
academia, the scientific civil service and private industry.

OceanofPDF.com
INDEX

A
absolute temperature 118, 129
absolute zero 50 78, 87, 118, 142
alternating current (AC) 92, 98
Ampere, André-Marie 108
anthropogenic CO2 emissions 98, 106
antigravity 36, 46
applied thermodynamics 138, 146
atoms 8, 14, 15, 18, 20, 22, 25, 26, 28, 37, 42, 56, 57, 72, 79, 80, 90, 94, 99,
100, 110, 119, 140, 148 150, 151
ATP 10, 58

B
Bacon, Francis Thomas 72
base 56, 58
batteries 56, 57, 70, 74, 88, 98
BCS theory 78, 94
Bekenstein, Jacob 140
Benson, Andrew 44
Benz, Karl 88
Bernoulli, Daniel 22
Big Bang 36, 37, 40, 48, 49, 52, 138, 152
biofuels 120
black holes 38, 138, 140
Blyth, James 124
Bochaux-Praceique 130
Boltzmann, Ludwig 140, 150–51
Boltzmann’s constant 138, 151
bomb calorimeter 138, 146
Brunschwig, Hieronymus 62

C
Calvin, Melvin 44
carbon dioxide CO2 57, 60, 78, 84, 98, 99, 100, 102, 106
carbon nanotubes 98, 102
Carnot, Nicolas 104
cars 20, 32, 62, 88, 106, 114, Ford Model T 120
Celsius, Anders 80
chemical energy 8, 16, 22, 26, 32, 37, 44, 72, 74, 88, 113
chemical feedstocks 118, 120
Chernobyl 118, 134
chlorophyll 36, 44
Clausius, Rudolf 140, 142
closed system 138, 146
conduction 18, 80, 82,
conservation of energy 14, 32, 40, 52
fundamental conservation laws 14, 32
convection 78, 80, 82, 126
conversion of energy 10, 30
Cooper pairs 78, 94
Cooper, Leon Neil 94
cosmic inflation 40, 48, 49, 138, 152

D
dark energy 46, 138, 152
Davy, Humphrey 60
disorder in a system 26, 138, 140
DNA 15, 56
dry steam field 118, 132
dynamite and explosive materials 26, 88
semtex 26

E
E=MC2 see Einstein, Albert
Earth 22, 28, 38, 42, 52, 58, 78, 82, 84, 87, 118, 119, 122, 128, 132
Eddington, Arthur 66
Edison, Thomas 92
Einstein, Albert 8, 14, 15, 20, 30, 36, 37, 38, 46, 52, 90, 122, 139
 E=MC2 8, 14, 30
electrical energy 38, 56, 74, 92
electricity and electric power 25, 56, 69, 72, 74, 92, 94, 102, 108, 113, 114,
119, 122, 126, 129, 130
electrochemical cell 56, 72
electrode/electrolyte 56, 57, 72, 74, 98, 100
electromagnetic induction 98, 99, 108
electromagnetism and electromagnetic radiation 14, 18, 30, 36, 37, 38, 50,
78, 84, 108
electrons 14, 26, 56, 72, 78, 79, 80, 92, 94, 100, 110, 122, 151
electrostatic bonding 14
energy density 50, 88, 118, 120
energy storage 10, 69, 88
engines 25, 104, 106, 113, 114, 129
entropy 10, 14, 26, 119, 138, 139, 140, 142, 144, 146, 148, 151
enzymes 14, 26
equilibrium state 139, 146
escape velocity 36, 52
ethanol 62, 120
external combustion engine 104, 106

F
Faraday, Michael 102, 108
Fermi, Enrico 28
Feynman, Richard 16, 110
Feynman diagrams 110
free electrons 78, 80
free energy 14, 26, 124
free radical 98, 102
friction 18, 32
fossil fuels 8, 26, 60, 88, 102, 120, 134
fuel cells 56, 72
Fukushima 118, 134
fullerenes 99, 102
fundamental conservation, laws of 14, 32
fundamental constant see Boltzmann’s constant
fundamental force 28, 37, 38, 42
fundamental field 36, 37, 49

G
galaxies 40, 46, 52
gases 14, 32, 60, 79, 82, 99, 106, 114, 132, 138, 139, 151
geothermal energy 44, 132
Gibbs, Josiah Willard 26, 144
gravity and gravitational field 8, 15, 16, 22, 36, 37, 38, 42, 46, 52, 130, 152
gravitational potential energy 16, 22, 38
gravity waves 36, 38
gravity well 15, 22
greenhouse gas/effect 78, 84, 99, 102, 118, 132, 134
Guth, Alan 48–49
heat energy 8, 15, 16, 18, 80, 104, 129, 146
heat pump 118, 129, 132
heavy elements 56, 64,
Heisenberg, Werner 50
Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle 36, 50
helium 37, 42, 66, 84, 87
Herschel, William 84, 122
Higgs field and Higgs boson 37, 49
Higgs, Peter 37
Hilbert, David 36, 38
Hoyle, Fred 36, 42, 52
hydrocarbons 62, 102, 118
hydroelectricity 8, 38, 56, 70, 126
hydrogen 28, 37, 42, 56, 57, 66, 69, 72, 84, 88, 119

I
Industrial Revolution 60, 98, 104, 129
infrared radiation 18, 78, 84, 122
internal combustion engine 32, 62, 88, 106, 114
ions 56, 72, 79, 98
isolated system 14, 32, 119, 137, 139, 141, 146
isotopes 56, 57
ITER experimental fusion energy reactor 78, 94

J
jet engine 99, 114
Joule, James Prescott 10, 24–25
Joule’s law 24, 25

K
Kamerlingh Onnes, Heike 86–87, 94
Kelvin, Lord see Thomson, William
kinetic energy 8, 16, 18, 20, 22, 25, 32, 38, 52, 56, 80, 82, 126, 130

L
La Cour, Poul 124
lasers 10, 78, 90
Lavoisier, Antoine 18
Liebniz, Gottfried Wilhelm 16
light energy 14, 15, 16, 30, 44, 90, 100, 110, 122
liquids 14, 79, 81, 87
Lorentz, Hendrik 30, 87

M
Maccoll, Edward 70
maglev train 79. 93
magma chamber 118, 132
magnetism 14, 30, 36, 108
magnetic monopoles 49
Maiman, Theodore 90
masers 79, 90
mass 15, 20, 22, 28, 30, 32, 38, 40, 42, 46, 50, 118, 138, 152
mass energy 8, 20, 30
mathematics 22, 30, 32, 36, 37, 38, 49, 52, 108, 110, 129, 140, 144, 148
matter 8, 14, 16, 30, 36, 37, 40, 44, 46, 52, 60, 62, 79, 84, 87, 104, 106, 110,
119, 120, 138, 139, 142, 146, 152
Maxwell, James Clerk 30, 36, 84, 142, 148, 151
mechanical energy 56, 88, 113
methanol 72, 90
microwaves 14, 78, 79, 84, 122
Minkowski, Hermann 37, 139
mobile phones 57, 74
molecules 8, 10, 14, 15, 18, 20, 22, 25, 26, 57, 58, 62, 78, 79, 82, 84, 90,
99, 102, 124, 138, 140, 144, 148, 151
momentum 14, 15, 30, 32, 36, 78
MRI scanners 79, 93

N
nanotechnology 102
neutron 15, 28, 42, 56, 57, 64, 119
Newcomen, Thomas 104
Newton, Isaac 15, 38
Isaac Newton Medal 48
nitrogen 26
Nobel Prize 26, 151
Physics
1913 Heike Kamerlingh Onnes, 86, 87
1921 Albert Einstein, 122
1965 Richard Feynman, Julian Schwinger and Sin’Ichiro Tomonaga, 110
1972 John Bardeen, Leon Neil Cooper and John Robert Schrieffer, 94
nuclear energy and nuclear reactions 22, 28, 30, 37, 42
nuclear fission 28, 64, 118, 119, 134
nuclear fusion 28, 37, 42, 50, 66, 119, 134
pebble-bed reactor 64, 66, 134
nuclear waste and power station accidents 118, 134
nuclear weapons 30, 64, 66, 119, 134
nucleus, nuclei 15, 28, 40, 42, 56, 64, 110, 118, 119
chain reaction 64, 118, 134
strong nuclear force 15, 28, 37, 42
 weak nuclear force 37, 50

O
Olah, George 102
Otto, Nikolaus 88, 106
oxygen 26, 44, 57, 58, 60, 69, 72, 99, 100, 102
oxidation 100, 102

P
Parsons, Charles Algernon 112–13, 114
phosphate group 57, 58
photoelectric cell/effect 44, 110, 122
photons 44, 79, 90, 110
photosynthesis 36, 37, 44, 100
photovoltaic cell 122
physics 14, 15, 16, 25, 32, 36, 46, 49, 52, 68, 79, 87, 110, 119, 129, 150,
151, 152
plasma 42, 66, 79, 82, 94
plastics 62, 118, 120
potential energy 16, 22, 25, 32, 38, 44, 52, 56, 70, 110, 126, 130
protons 15, 28, 42, 56, 57, 58, 64

Q
quantum effects and quantum mechanics 37, 50, 79, 90, 139
quantum physics 36, 79, 110
quantum electrodynamics, QED 110
quarks 15

R
radio waves 84
Rankine, William 22, 32, 70, 139, 146
redox reactions 100
relativity 15, 30, 36
general theory 36, 37, 38, 46, 49, 52
special theory 30, 37, 139
respiration 57, 58, 60, 99, 100
Royal Society 24, 68, 113
rusting 99, 100
Rutherford, Ernest 28

S
Salter, Stephen 119, 130
solar energy 42, 122, 124, 130
space, stars and spacecraft 15, 22, 28, 30, 36, 37, 38, 40, 42, 46, 50, 79, 84,
90, 102, 122, 139, 142
spacetime 36, 37, 38, 40, 139, 140, 152
speed of light 14, 20, 30, 40, 79, 84, 152
statistical mechanics 139, 151
steady state theory 37
steam engines 22, 25, 60, 104, 106, 114
stimulated emission 78, 79, 90
sugar 26, 57, 58, 72, 100, 120
sun and sunlight 8, 10, 16, 26, 28, 30, 37, 42, 44, 50, 66, 78, 84, 119, 122,
124, 126, 130, 132, 134
superconductors 10, 78, 94
Szilard, Leo 134

T
Tait, Peter Guthrie 128, 148
tectonic plates 119, 132
Tesla, Nikola 92
thermodynamics 15, 26, 82, 104, 119, 129, 138, 139, 142, 144, 146, 148,
151, 152
second law of 104, 119, 129, 142, 144, 148, 151
thermodynamic equilibrium 139
Thomson, William (Lord Kelvin) 10, 20, 128–29, 142
thorium 132, 134
Three Gorges Dam, Hubei Province, China 126
tidal energy 119, 130
time 15, 32, 36, 37, 38, 40, 50, 60, 62, 138, 139, 142, 144, 152
 time’s arrow 139, 144
time machines 49
transfer of energy 18, 84
turbine 56, 64, 99, 106, 112, 113, 114, 118, 119, 124, 126, 130, 132, 138,
139

U
universe 16, 18, 36, 37, 40, 42, 44, 49, 52, 138, 139, 142, 144, 146, 152
uranium 56, 57, 64, 66, 119, 132, 134

V
vacuum energy 37, 49
velocity 15, 20, 36, 37, 52, 79
Volta, Alessandro 10, 68–69, 74
von Helmholtz, Hermann 144

W
Watt, James 25, 60
wave energy 130
wind farms, wind energy 108, 114, 124, 126, 130, 134
work 14, 16, 18, 25, 26, 30, 98, 104, 114, 138, 139, 140, 146, 148

X
X-rays 14, 78, 84

Y
Yellowstone Park, USA 132

Z
zero-point energy 50
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