Well…there are some days that I just don’t even want to think about politics, and this is one of them…that’s not to say that I won’t do a political one later, but my mind wanders around sometimes and it’s like mind cleaner to just talk about something that is fun for a change. Just today, out on the bike, I was thinking about the law of conservation of energy that says energy cannot be created or destroyed but just changed from one form to another….and I have talked about this a bit before…yeah, I am just that geeky at times…but today it went back a little bit farther and it dawned on me that all of the energy that I use on the bike every day starts out as photons from the sun…so, I’m running on photons! Those photons are changed into chemical energy in the form of sugars by photosynthesis in plants, that animals eat and change into other sugars that we eat when we grab that burger or steak. That chemical energy from food I turn into usable energy for my legs that I convert throughout the ride into potential energy that I am full of when I get to the top of the hills and then convert that potential energy into kinetic energy as I move down the hill or ride on the flats…had the really weird thought the other day about this by thinking of cables connecting my legs to the bike to use the energy in them….okay, that wandered off a little but it is still photons, light, that makes my bike ride happen…and that’s pretty cool….
Tag Archives: energy
Energy….
Well…as you know, I get some weird thoughts when I’m out on the bike and I have had this one running through my head for a couple of weeks now…so, I thought I’d try to put it into words and just see what happens….the whole thing started with the realization or recognition that matter and energy are just two forms of the same thing and that everything that is living on the Earth comes from the photons that the sun emits….but, you know that…I hope…and those photons, when converted into matter by plants…are then used by me to make the chemical energy that I use to drive the bike…but, it doesn’t stop there….I find it kind of interesting how quickly this chemical energy can be changed into potential, kinetic, or heat energy while I’m on the ride. Ride to the top of the first hill, and the chemical energy has been converted into potential energy…you can’t see it or feel it but, at the top of the hill, the bike and I are full of this type of energy…and it is quickly released when I head down the next hill…..then the legs take over and the chemical energy is converted into kinetic energy…or the energy that comes with movement of a mass…and then when I stop all of that kinetic is converted into heat by the disc brakes…and then the cycle starts all over again when I start moving again….I find that kind of interesting…not sure if you will….