If energy can neither be created nor be destroyed, then how is it there in the first place ?

Question

science tells us that energy can only be transformed from one form to the other... mechanical into electrical, electrical into light etc...

but if energy can never be created, how did it originate ? it couldn't have been always there without being born!

what am i missing ?

david.. if matter can be transformed into energy, then the scientific theory that energy cannot be created should be wrong, right?

thanks Mark! I was actually wondering whether to place this question in physics or philosophy!

good explanation david.. but... when you say that matter is transformed into energy, wouldnt it imply that matter IS energy?

David.. your statement on the hindu philosophy takes us back to the same question, how did the cycle begin? anyway, thanks mate!

I found this link if you might be interested.

http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/phy05/phy05045.htm

Answer 1

Don't forget about:

e = mc^2

Matter can be transformed into energy.
The stars do it all the time!
(So do you when you eat food.)

Energy can also be transformed into matter.
Plants do it all the time with sunlight!

There is a difference between created, destroyed and TRANSFORMED.

Transformation is not: "Creatio ex nihilo."
Transformation is: "Changed into something different."

NOPE! see: e = mc^2

Steam is not ice, but both are H2O. (It's a poor analogy, but it's the best I could come up with on the spur of the moment.)

re: MARK R's post -
If you want to get into the philosophical side of it, look into the Hindu concept of "cycles." Everything runs in cycles, including the universe.

Incorporating Hindu philosophy and physics, the "big bang" at the beginning of this cycle could be the end result of the universe (in the previous cycle) collapsing into itself.
.

Answer 2

The right answer is no one knows.

Current theory suggests that there was a "big bang" at the start of the universe and suddenly lots of energy was formed that later formed the particles and matter we are made of. Unfortunately since we can only detect photons and they weren't created until after the 1st fraction of a second we have no way of telling what happened before that. The answer of how the energy originated is a philosophical one rather than a scientific one. Sorry.

Answer 3

...that's like trying to comprehend endless space...or if space does have an ending, what's beyond that?....or try imagining forever: no beginning, no end.....some things just can't be comprehended by the mind....the best I can do is shrug my shoulders and say "i dunno."

Maybe somehow it just always was...maybe ur thinking in small scale terms like the physical realm....energy was obviously here before the world of form. Form was created, and all forms will die eventually...couldn't the energy that animates all form and created this universe been there all along? (goes back to the mind trying to comprehend something it can't).

Does energy need energy to create itself? You've seen some past lives...where ur form has changed but some essence lives on...couldn't that energy/essence have been there before all form was even made? It's not something that can be grasped! One question leads to a million more. lol. This topic can go round n round! lol.

I don't think ur missing anything....

This is a great question.

Answer 4

You are missing the fact that in order for something to be born it must be living. Energy is not a living thing. Energy simply always was and will always be.

Answer 5

That would be the same type of question as "How did the earth form?"

People believe different things, but there is no way of being certain, since it has been here since the earth has been here.