Has Energy a Tendency to "Vanish" (Eg. disperse itself..so where does it go?)

We know that energy is not "created" but can only be transferred, or maybe converted (say, heat energy into electrical, then into physical...and vice versa etc.)

Here is a VERY simple example to clarify my question:

If i boil a pot of water, i will transfer an amount on Energy "in to the water", the water gets hot.

If i leave the pot sitting at the table, it will cool off in time.

Yes we KNOW *why* this happens, it can be physically described how the heat is given off, eg. it would "radiate away into space etc."...(eg. the water/pot will cool off)...but since we know energy cannot be destroyed and WILL always be preserved...WHY has it this tendency and most importantly where does it go?

If the heat energy from the boiling water leaves...where is that same energy going? (Eg, saying it would disperse into the atmosphere etc. would not be satisfying as an answer, because then we also need to take into account that this energy would also go somewhere...eg. in darkness of space ultimately? So...has all energy a tendency to amass somewhere else?

Space is the final destination where it disperses into the past. Space is the source where it enters from the future. The balance is the illusion that is the second law of thermodynamics.

reply to post by flexy123

Black holes may accrete both matter and energy, but I doubt they are the final destination for more than a small fraction of what gets dissipated into space.

Part of the energy that arrives on Earth comes from distant sources that hypothetically could include things such as our distant alien counterparts boiling water on their stoves.

Most of it ends up traveling through the immense void of space.

Keep in mind that the cosmos is huge so even large amounts of energy dissipated into it will still result in low energy densities. 73% of the universe known as dark energy is of such low energy density, we will probably never even be able to measure it in a lab.

reply to post by flexy123


1 hour ago:
No Energy was ever lost since the beginning of the Universe

If the heat energy from the boiling water leaves...where is that same energy going?

The atoms/molecules of the surrounding environment take that energy. The swing faster, thus have more energy. If you hold your hand above a heat source, you will feel the warm air, additionally to the heat radiation. This warm air mixes with colder air further away from the heat source. violá

Originally posted by flexy123
We know that energy is not "created" but can only be transferred, or maybe converted (say, heat energy into electrical, then into physical...and vice versa etc.)

Here is a VERY simple example to clarify my question:

If i boil a pot of water, i will transfer an amount on Energy "in to the water", the water gets hot.

If i leave the pot sitting at the table, it will cool off in time.

Yes we KNOW *why* this happens, it can be physically described how the heat is given off, eg. it would "radiate away into space etc."...(eg. the water/pot will cool off)...but since we know energy cannot be destroyed and WILL always be preserved...WHY has it this tendency and most importantly where does it go?

If the heat energy from the boiling water leaves...where is that same energy going? (Eg, saying it would disperse into the atmosphere etc. would not be satisfying as an answer, because then we also need to take into account that this energy would also go somewhere...eg. in darkness of space ultimately? So...has all energy a tendency to amass somewhere else?

edit on 18-9-2012 by flexy123 because: (no reason given)

this is because heat and cold are both different states of the same energy. in the presence of certain conditions the energy functions as heat.. and then as the conditions that foster the heat fade away the same energy \cools and functions as cold.

there is no separation..

Energy can never be lost it can only be converted from one form to another.

Electric in your kettle is converted to heat which boils the water. The energy in the hot water came from that electricity

The heat in the water dissipates into the atmosphere, slightly warming the air around the cup, thus cooling the contents of the cup.

It is the conservation of energy

The first law of thermodynamics:

"In simple terms, this means that energy cannot be created or destroyed, only converted from one form to another."

Originally posted by nothingwrong
Energy can never be lost it can only be converted from one form to another.

Electric in your kettle is converted to heat which boils the water. The energy in the hot water came from that electricity

The heat in the water dissipates into the atmosphere, slightly warming the air around the cup, thus cooling the contents of the cup.

It is the conservation of energy

The first law of thermodynamics:

"In simple terms, this means that energy cannot be created or destroyed, only converted from one form to another."

Yes i am aware of that, the question was where the energy goes *ultimately*. Obviously, energy has a tendency to convert and then "disperse" (?).

It it just evenly distributing in the universe?

If i had a hot, boiling pot of water today...the next day the energy which is now "gone" most be somewhere.

Kinetic energy of water (or Sun, or Wind, Nuclear etc.) --> power plant ---> electrical energy --> my house/stove ---> heat of hot water --> ????

The only logical explanation i can come up with is that energy is dispersing into the universe again and then joins the cycle again...

hi this is my first post here ...
...so in the example you've given: boiling water left to cool down ...the energy you've put into boiling that water has created a rise in temperature...when u stop "injecting"/acting in a specific direction (heating or coolin it) that energy is released it's called heat transfer ....it is transfered to the surounding ..let's say air ...who in turn will warm up other objects that have a lower temperature than that of the air.
Basicly the processes are as follows (and trust me they completely obey by the first - i think - law of thermodynamics).
1. energy from burning the fuel (gas/coal wot have you) -> heating water
2. heated water -> heated air
3. heated air -> heated cold bodies...
You have to always keep in mind...the concept of ENTROPY ...look it up ...which basicly tells you that in heat transfer (heat being one form of energy) the heat will always tend to migrate from a high level to a lower one...the general tendency being that of equilibrium.
There are other ways of transferring energy ...mechanical en -> heat en, heat -> mechanical and so on

Hope it helped ...
*sry for typos and prolly the general lack of fluidity of my text ...eng is not my native language

I sympathise with your concern because the answer seems to lead to a distant repository and the location of that repository seems to have to get further away because presumably the radiation travels at the speed of light. So OMG, we have to be talking about the potential for infinities of space and time. Then you might have to consider the beginning ... where did the initial hot dense ball of energy that we seem to be able to track back ~14 billion years ago come from? Is that the other side of some similar system like ours?

I have to suggest that our big bang is one of a potentially infinite number of big bangs across the landscape of the greater universe; a universe that has always existed and is spatially infinite. Then you can work out some scenarios about how big bang arenas can be small relative to the greater landscape, and you might be able to envision scenarios where big bangs are spawned in the natural course of arena formation from parent arenas.

Given that scenario, the escaping energy from one arena would enter other arenas and get recycled as those other expanding arenas intersect and overlap, speculating that new big bangs are made of the "stuff" of parent arenas that precede them . Food for thought.

Originally posted by flexy123
Yes i am aware of that, the question was where the energy goes *ultimately*. Obviously, energy has a tendency to convert and then "disperse" (?).

It it just evenly distributing in the universe?

That's the answer, except it's not necessarily that evenly. It's even to the extent the universe is homogeneous, but the universe isn't completely homogeneous.

For example the energy density would likely be higher in the vicinity of the Sloan Great Wall, and lower in the voids between the galaxy superclusters.

The Sloan Great Wall (SGW) is a cosmic structure formed by a giant wall of galaxies (a galactic filament), and to the present day it is the largest known structure in the universe.