Human Homeostasis - Energy

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:

    While the State becomes inflated and hypertrophied in order to obtain a firm enough grip upon individuals, but without succeeding, the latter, without mutual relationships, tumble over one another like so many liquid molecules, encountering no central energy to retain, fix and organize them.
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    Three elements go to make up an idea. The first is its intrinsic quality as a feeling. The second is the energy with which it affects other ideas, an energy which is infinite in the here-and-nowness of immediate sensation, finite and relative in the recency of the past. The third element is the tendency of an idea to bring along other ideas with it.
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