Definition:Energy

Definition

Energy is a property of physical bodies which can be defined as the ability to do work.

Like time, it is difficult to define exactly what energy actually is.

Energy is a scalar quantity.

Symbol

The usual symbol used to denote the energy of a body is $E$.

Dimension

The dimension of measurement of energy is $\mathsf {M L^2 T^{-2} }$.

This derives from its definition as:

${\text{Force} } \times {\text {Distance} }$

Unit

The SI unit of measurement of energy is the joule.

The CGS unit of measurement of energy is the erg.

The FPS unit of measurement of energy is the foot-poundal.

Also see

• Results about energy can be found here.

Sources

• 1969: J.C. Anderson, D.M. Hum, B.G. Neal and J.H. Whitelaw: Data and Formulae for Engineering Students (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): $1.$ Units and Abbreviations: $1.2$ SI units $(2)$ Derived units
• 1976: Ralph J. Smith: Circuits, Devices and Systems (3rd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Chapter $1$: Electrical Quantities: Definitions and Laws: Definitions: Table $1$-$2$: Important Derived Quantities
• 1998: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): energy
• 1998: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): scalar quantity
• 2008: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (4th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): energy
• 2008: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (4th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): scalar quantity