Take for example the energy stored in an atom, how was this made? Also what is energy in its purest form?
That isn't the answer. I posted something like this a while back and got some semi-satisfying responses. Let me find the link.
Atoms are magnetic and they consist of magnetic particles and magnetism makes them move. How magnetism is made is hard to understand but you can find the answer in the infinity of emptiness. Nothing.
It is wrong to take the New Age view that energy is some kind of mysterious substance. It isn't. In physics, energy is defined as the capacity to do useful work (there is a more precise mathematical definition, of course). Atoms have different kinds of energies. For example, the electrons in an atom have kinetic energy, which is energy associated with their motion. The atom also has a certain amount of "potential energy", which is associated with the electrostatic binding of electrons to the nucleus. Energy isn't created or destroyed. It is only shifted from one form to another. Energy has no "pure form", as it is not a substance. Energy can be stored in particles of light, or in bricks, or in the heat of the Sun, or in water sitting in a dam.
That's a very old-fashioned, anthropocentric definition. As if the universe cares whether we think something is useful. That statement is just talking about the conversion of potential energy into kinetic energy, or some other form that is detectable by humans at a macro level. The potential energy in an object held above ground level is converted into kinetic energy when we allow it to fall. The potential energy in the chemical bonds of a petroleum molecule is converted into thermal energy if a spark causes it to break down into smaller molecules. The thermal energy becomes potential energy if the petroleum is confined inside the cylinder of an auto engine and the pressure increases. The potential energy of the pressurized gas is converted into kinetic energy as the expanding gas pushes down on the piston. And into sonic energy as it then passes out through the exhaust valve in regular waves. We regard all this as "work." Older physics books often used the word "work" interchangeably with "energy."
Nothing makes energy, just as nothing makes matter, what you witness is motion of different variations, which is a fundamental manifestation of a universe in constant motion.
Sure it cares, we are a part of the universe, we are the universe, so the universe cares. What makes motion?
Actually, there is an important technical distinction between "work" and "energy". Work is "useful" energy, as I said. Say you run a car engine. Energy comes from the fuel. Some of that energy goes to driving the wheels; the rest is lost to the environment as waste heat. In this example, the work done by the engine is what goes into driving the wheels, but that doesn't account for all the energy conversions happening.
Energy in its purest form has to be the electromagnetic field. Every physical reality known can be reduced to it. Possibly every physical reality known can be constructed from it.
I like Chatha's answer. Energy is the variations of constant motion that make up our universe. Energy is never made. It is simply in motion. There is never an occurance of energy appearing or disappearing.
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Electromagnetic fields are made of electric and magnetic forces. What are electric and magnetic forces made of ? Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Vern
yes that's what i'm trying to say, everything is made of nothing and all energy comes from nothing (ie. the universe is an "illusion")
