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2) How many different definitions of /physics/ energy are
we talking about? Is there more than one serious contender?
I've been wrong about this sort of thing before, but I
would hope the community could come to a consensus on
how to define the /physics/ energy.
This stands in contrast to things like:
-- "adiabatic", where there are two long-established
meanings, neither of which is particularly better or
worse than the other.
-- "heat", where there are at least four long-established
and widely-used meanings, each of which has some merit
but also some serious problems. (Not to mention various
vernacular and/or metaphorical usages.)
-- etc. etc. etc.
3) Within "science" broadly, I know of two or three definitions
of «energy» ... only one of which is the /physics/ energy.
a) The /physics/ energy, as I understand it, is unique, well
defined, and well behaved. Here's how I explain it:
https://www.av8n.com/physics/thermo/energy.html
or equivalently
http://www.av8n.com/physics/thermo/energy.html
b) Meanwhile, there is also the Department of Energy «energy».
This involves some notion of "available" or "useful" energy.
This is important, but it's not the /physics/ energy.
Definitely not. When the DoE says "please «conserve» «energy»"
they are not using the physics notion of energy *or* the
physics notion of conservation.
c) In dictionaries and in third-grade science books you often
see energy defined as "the ability to do work". This is a
rough approximation to the DoE «energy». It is absolutely
not the physics energy. For details on this, see
https://www.av8n.com/physics/thermo/energy.html#sec-workability
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2) Does anybody know of any other viable, useful, or even
plausible ways of defining the /physics/ energy?
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