What is free energy?

Question

I see this term thrown around in biology...what does it mean?

Answer 1

Known as Gibbs free energy, it is the energy available in a cell to preform work.

Def:
The portion of a systems energy that can perform work when temp and pressure are uniform throughout a system. The change in free energy of a system is calculated by: change in G = change in H - T change in S.
Gibbs figured out the equation.

Answer 2

Dear God, most people on these forums are completely illiterate. Short answer: No such thing as free energy exists. There would be R+D costs (unless plans fall out of the sky), construction costs (unless super-efficient fusion plants build themselves), storage issues (unless batteries build themselves), and wire issues (as someone else mentioned.) Would electricity be free? No. Would electricity be much cheaper than it is now? Yes. After the patents expire, power costs would fall incredibly. Do we want free, unlimited energy? No. If there was NO benefit to reducing energy use, we would have to build many more "free energy plants" than we actually need in order to satisfy supply.

Answer 3

Free energy is basically energy to do work.

In biology, they put it this way:
Energy you store in the bonds of the compounds you have in your cell is potential energy. When this compound goes under a reaction, it releases or absorbs energy. This is the free energy, energy to do work

if you want a more complete and complex answer, just say it!

Answer 4

I don't know about biology. What came to my mind was anything that occurs naturally that can be turned into a energy source such as sunshine, wind, running water, etc.

Answer 5

The wind would be one good example of free energy. There is also solar energy.

Answer 6

Free energy (DNA) is the free energy pertaining to DNA