So I was wondering, and hoping maybe someone smarter than I could help me understand the specifics, the following:
(and please correct me at any point if I'm wrong)
The Law of Conservation of Energy implies that energy can't be created nor destroyed, and the energy taken out of a system can't exceed the work being put in. Thus, there must be work performed, you can't have a perpetual motion machine.
Wouldn't this also imply that energy can't be created nor destroyed simply by the fact that there is always work being performed due to the transfer of energy?
I only ask that because wouldn't that mean you can never truly have a "free" energy source? I guess to avoid philosophical argument of the word "free," I mean in the sense of energy from nothing. There must be work, right?
Also to add to that, the total energy in a system is the work performed minus the loss of heat, what happens to that heat energy lost? Does it get transferred into other forms of energy somewhere along the way?
I ask that because to solidify my first argument, energy transfer must be happening all the time and any energy taken from a system (or put in, or lost, I guess you could say) was energy that was already there? maybe from the Big Bang?
As a side note, I'm curious of these things because it seems to me like there is energy everywhere, everybody and everything was made from work performed in space, and there really should be no issue of energy dependance... The real issue should be energy conversion right?
I know I asked alot but hopefully some knowledgeable minds can help me understand some of the points better. The main outcome I'd like to see is to discuss if there are methods of physics to harvest energy from work already performed by other things, mainly celestial objects.
One idea I've pondered is to harvest free electrons from ionized particles in the atmosphere. Not really sure how exactly one could do that, again just the idea of physics, but the basis behind the idea is this:
Ionized particles have extra electrons, which I'm assuming might be relatively easy to break free (that's kinda how they got there in the first place), and with the help of the sun there should be no problem freeing electrons, right? Isn't that how a solar panel works? Photons break off free electrons in atoms, although that seems a more brute force method.
Last thought, could this reaction be the cause of lightning storms? It is believed that lightning comes from friction, but gases try to escape each other... Wouldn't it be more plausible to believe that water vapor (clouds) collect free electrons broke loose by the sun from ionized particles in the atmosphere?
If it were friction, wouldn't lightning happen everytime a cloud rubbed? lol. Does it make more sense to believe enough electrons are stored up there that eventually they become so great and discharge?
Plenty of material there, let me know your thoughts on any of them or any thoughts of your own related to the title. Please try to be kind as I'm only a beginning practitioner in the art of sciences =p