RE: Atoms energy expansion
March 9, 2014 at 1:56 am
(This post was last modified: March 9, 2014 at 1:58 am by Alex K.)
The Energy needed to start the fusion reaction comes from the gravitational collapse. Beyond that, stars actually gain energy from the fusion process, furher indicating that getting the atoms even closer together releases.further energy. So both forms of energy needed by stars to convert to other forms of energy (and in the end, heavy elements where one needs to stick energy in to form them) seem to be present because the stuff in the universe is somewhat dilute rather than cobbled together with maximal density. This I think has to do with the expansion.
I think your question has two parts: 1.why is there energy
2. Why was the universe in low entropy state such that the energy is able to actually do something
concerning number 2,There are people studying specifically the "initial conditions" (though it is a bit of a misnomer) which lead to this rapid expansion with a hot gas. I'm no expert , but I don't think anyone can know with good certainty why this is the way things are.
One thing to consider concerning number 1:if the universe is flat, it has in some formulations zero total energy, and the energy we observe in it is just borrowed from the geometry, which counts as negative energy. But this is very subtle.
I think your question has two parts: 1.why is there energy
2. Why was the universe in low entropy state such that the energy is able to actually do something
concerning number 2,There are people studying specifically the "initial conditions" (though it is a bit of a misnomer) which lead to this rapid expansion with a hot gas. I'm no expert , but I don't think anyone can know with good certainty why this is the way things are.
One thing to consider concerning number 1:if the universe is flat, it has in some formulations zero total energy, and the energy we observe in it is just borrowed from the geometry, which counts as negative energy. But this is very subtle.
