Is electric power SOLID LIQUID or GAS?

Question

Is software on your hard disk SOLID LIQUID OR GAS?

One stores data and the other stores power. So there should be something in common that allows you to store both in the same physical medium yet be able to transmit it from place to place, just as the electrical cable can transmit power and the network cable can transmit data?

If POWER is ENERGY and not MATTER, and MATTER can be converted to ENERGY, can ENERGY be converted to MATTER back? I.e., represent energy as a physical object. How?

Answer 1

Electric power is not matter, therefore, it does not have a state of matter (solid, liquid, gas, ...).
Electric power is just that, power. Power is the measure of the rate of energy consumption/generation per unit time.
P = E / t
Neither energy not time have states of matter either.

Both an electric and network cable essentially transmits the same thing, electricity. An electrical cable transmits electrical energ in the flow of electrons. Since this energy is being transmitted at a certain rate (energy over time) it has a certain power.
Network cables work the same way, electrical impulses are sent through the case. However, network cables are used differently than electrical cables, so how the electricity is sent is different, but it is still electricity.

Electricity is the flow of charged particles, most often electrons.
Electrons have mass and are made up of matter. However, we really don't think of a particular state of matter for electrons because they are so incredibly small we do not deal with them on a macro scale as we do other substances.

EDIT:
Power is not energy, power is energy per unit time....there is a difference.
For example, are speed and distance the same thing? No.
meters per second and meters are units of two different quantities just as power and energy.

There is a certain amount of energy associated with a given rest mass (using that famous equation E = mc^2). Mass can be converted into energy and vice-versa, but usually we are talking about needing A LOT of energy to create a VERY tiny peice of mass, so we dont typically associate a state of matter with it.

Answer 2

Solid, liquid and gas are terms used to describe different states of matter at the superatomic level. Electricity decribes the movement of subatomic particles, hence can't be desccribed as solid, liquid or gas. Electricity can not be stored, its really just the transition of energy from one form to another i.e. chemical energy (battery) to electricity to light and heat energy (light bulb).

Answer 3

Actually a combination of the three. Here is why:

Electrical energy occurs naturally, but seldom in forms that can be used. For example, although the energy dissipated as lightning exceeds the world's demand for electricity by a large factor, lightning has not been put to practical use because of its unpredictability and other problems. Generally, practical electric-power-generating systems convert the mechanical energy of moving parts into electrical energy (see generator). While systems that operate without a mechanical step do exist, they are at present either excessively inefficient or expensive because of a dependence on elaborate technology. While some electric plants derive mechanical energy from moving water (hydroelectric power), the vast majority derive it from heat engines in which the working substance is steam. Roughly 89% of power in the United States is generated this way. The steam is generated with heat from combustion of fossil fuels or from nuclear fission (see nuclear energy; nuclear reactor).

Steam as an Energy Source

The conversion of mechanical energy to electrical energy can be accomplished with an efficiency of about 80%. In a hydroelectric plant, the losses occur in the turbines, bearings, penstocks, and generators. The basic limitations of thermodynamics fix the maximum efficiency obtainable in converting heat to electrical energy. The necessity of limiting the temperature to safe levels also helps to keep the efficiency down to about 41% for a fossil-fuel plant. Most nuclear plants use low-pressure, low-temperature steam operation, and have an even lower efficiency of about 30%. Nuclear plants have been able to achieve efficiency up to 40% with liquid-metal cooling. It is thought that by using magnetohydrodynamic "topping" generators in conjunction with normal steam turbines, the efficiency of conventional plants can be raised to close to 50%. These devices remove the restrictions imposed by the blade structure of turbines by using the steam or gasses produced by combustion as the working fluid.

Answer 4

You're clever.

Even though both electric and gas/liquid can be transmitted or stored in solid container, it doesn't mean that they are both the same.

Ever think about idea or thought? Our mind can store idea/thought and our mouth can transmit it. It doesn't mean that idea/thought also liquid or gas, does it? Even our brain is mix of solid and liquid thing.

Answer 5

Electric power is none of the above; it's energy, not mass.

Answer 6

Only matter is solid, liquid or gas. Power is not matter.

Answer 7

Off course GAS.

Answer 8

it is only a thing