Energy
Energy balance is the homeostasis of energy in living systems. It is measured with the following equation:
Energy intake = internal heat produced + external work + storage.
When calculating energy balances in the body, energy is often measured in calories, with the definitions of a calorie falling into two classes:
- The small calorie or gram calorie (symbol: cal) approximates the energy needed to increase the temperature of 1 gram of water by 1 °C. This is about 4.2 joules.
- The large calorie, kilogram calorie, dietary calorie or food calorie (symbol: Cal) approximates the energy needed to increase the temperature of 1 kilogram of water by 1 °C. This is exactly 1,000 small calories or about 4.2 kilojoules.
Read more about this topic: Human Homeostasis
Famous quotes containing the word energy:
“But often the presence of mind and energy of a person remote from the spotlight decide the course of history for centuries to come.”
—Stefan Zweig (18811942)
“The scholar may be sure that he writes the tougher truth for the calluses on his palms. They give firmness to the sentence. Indeed, the mind never makes a great and successful effort, without a corresponding energy of the body.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The chief function of the city is to convert power into form, energy into culture, dead matter into the living symbols of art, biological reproduction into social creativity.”
—Lewis Mumford (1895–1990)