Energetics

The scientific study of Energy, primarily how to transfer move energy and change energy states.

The main job of energetics is to produce useful energy for automating processes that would normally require human labor.

Sources

Energy comes in a lot of forms. The two main theoretical forms are potential energy (stored energy) and kinetic energy (moving energy).

Kinetic energy more formally is a form of energy that an object or a particle has by reason of its motion. Kinetic energy is a property of a moving object or particle and depends not only on its motion but also on its mass. The kind of motion may be translation (or motion along a path from one place to another), rotation about an axis, vibration, or any combination of motions.

Potential energy more formally is stored energy that depends upon the relative position of various parts of a system. A spring has more potential energy when it is compressed or stretched. A steel ball has more potential energy raised above the ground than it has after falling to Earth. In the raised position it is capable of doing more work. Potential energy is a property of a system and not of an individual body or particle; the system composed of Earth and the raised ball, for example, has more potential energy as the two are farther separated. Potential energy is relative in almost all cases (as in you can choose any reference as zero), and usually tries to get minimized. This minimizing happens by converting to kinetic energy, which can actually do work.

These two types of energy can be transformed into each other. A good example is if you raise an object up, you give it potential energy. The more you raise it, the more energy you give it. If you release it, it loses potential energy the closer it gets to the ground, but it gains kinetic energy as it picks up speed and slams into the earth.

These types of energy also come in subtypes. The most useful ones are electrical energy and kinetic energy, but mechanical energy, thermal energy, and elastic energy can also be useful.

Perhaps one of the most immediately useful sources is water. When you have flowing water, like a river or waterfall, you can use some of that kinetic energy to move other things.

The primary way to do this is by something called a water wheel. This can be constructed out of any material but usually it is made out of wood. A water wheel is a large wheel that has buckets attached so that the moving water source catches the buckets and turns the wheel. The resulting energy from the spinning wheel can be used to rotate a shaft which can transfer the moving energy anywhere you want. This rotating energy is usually used for massive turning operations. Some of these operations may include grinding grains into flour, turning a spit that has food on it so that the food gets cooked well all around, even turning large machines like textile machines. This spinning motion can also generate electricity. Electricity is perhaps the most useful form of energy that humans have discovered so far because it can travel really far and fast without losing energy.

Since spinning an axel is the most common form of generating energy, here are several ways to do it.

Water wheel

The water wheel is perhaps the best device to start off with. It can easily be built as a wheel with buckets attached. This wheel can spin the axel attached to its center and the spinning axel can transfer the energy.

Heat

Once you find coal, you can use this or other heat sources to create steam with water. The steam can be directed to move in an upwards direction where there can be a fan. The steam will attempt to push upwards through the fan thus rotating the fan. This is the basics of a steam engine. Heat can also be generated using radioactive elements. This is the basics of a nuclear reactor.

Gasoline

An engine can generate motion, like a water wheel. This is powered by an oil byproduct called gasoline, though most liquids that explode when sparked should work. These have multiple cranks (usually 4) which are cycled up and down by the gas, as the explosion pushes it and inertia in the crankshaft pushes it back up to get sparked again. Please note that these create carbon dioxide, which too much of can cause global warming.

Generator

A generator is a machine that converts kinetic energy (usually rotation) into electrical energy. A magnet (and sometimes an electromagnet, which does indeed require energy) is moved inside a conductive coil, and the changing magnetic field creates an electromotive force (EMF) on the ends of the coil. The current flowing through the conducting cable usually is oscillating due to the alternating magnetic field, and can be boosted over long distances if needed. While Alternating Current (AC) is useful for transmission, Direct Current (DC) that does not oscillate is more commonly used in electronic devices, as it provides a more stable and predictable voltage and generally has lesser risk overall. In order to convert Alternating Current (AC) into Direct Current (DC), Rectification is used, where diodes only let AC flow one way and a capacitor smooths out the voltage. To convert DC to AC, inversion is used, where the DC is inverted periodically. A generator can be spun with any of the above methods.

It is possible to generate energy without using moving parts. This is called a solar panel. A solar panel is like an LED, but configured to take in light and output energy. A useful side effect of this is that a solar panel can be checked by putting a current through it, using it as an LED. Usually, the solar panel is made to face the sun for more efficiency.

Uses

Once generated, energy is a wildly helpful resource. The main purpose is storing it and using it later in situations that are hard to accomplish with just humans. Some common uses are transportation, automation, and with electricity, the internet and computing.

Transportation

Basic transportation will likely at first not use stored energy but transfer different types of mechanical energy like you can with simple machines. As civilization gets more advanced, you can use these sources of energy to power a vehicle. The steam engine was the first way that this happened. Steam created by heating water with coal can be directed to a cylinder that will have a piston in it. As the pressure from the steam builds, it will push the piston upwards and then escape through a hole in the cylinder to be condensed back into water. This will allow the piston to fall back in place and more steam to build up pressure. This cycle causes an up and down motion of the piston which can be translated into rotational motion by use of cams and a crankshaft. This rotational energy can be used to turn an axel that has wheels on it thus powering a vehicle. Therefore, people can ride it and carry stuff in it with only needing to supply coal and make sure the fire does not go out.

Automation

It is possible to make materials called semiconductors, and adding dopants to them and putting them together allows one-way electrical components (diodes) and electrical gates (transistors). These can be put together to preform computations, which can then be used to control more current that goes through some device (usually a coil of wire or an LED) to do something useful.

Sometimes, it is possible to just use wires to do useful things (resistors, capacitors, and inductors), like analog filters, however these are limited. It is of note that most semiconductor devices do have some resistors and capacitors, along with unintended capacitance and inductance.

Internet

By connecting enough semiconductor devices to be able to do math and logic, along with having some form of input and output, a programmable computer can be made, which can do most computations without changing its hardware. It is possible to use these to make the internet, a network between computers.