From: fortunati.luigi@gmail.com   
      
   Il 18/02/2026 04:23, Luigi Fortunati ha scritto:   
   > In an internal combustion engine, energy is generated and then channeled   
   > in one direction, and that scalar energy becomes a vector force.   
   >   
   > Therefore, we can consider energy as a set of equal and opposite forces   
   > directed in all possible directions.   
   >   
   > Thus, energy, despite being composed of vector forces, is a scalar   
   > simply because none of these forces prevails over the opposing force.   
   >   
   > However, if at a certain point one of these forces increases or   
   > decreases without the opposing force doing the same, part of this energy   
   > becomes a vector force.   
   >   
   > Is this correct?   
   >   
   > Luigi Fortunati   
   >   
   > [[Mod. note --   
   > No, in general it's not correct.  Energy and force are two different   
   > things, and it's not correct is to say that energy is composed of   
   > forces.   
   >   
   > Energy is the ability to do work, and an important special case of   
   > this is mechanical work, where a force acts on a body which moves.   
   >   
   > But, there are (other) types of energy which aren't associated with   
   > mechanical work.  For example, think about the energy carried by   
   > electromagnetic radiation (e.g., sunlight), or more generally, by the   
   > energy contained in a (large) set of photons.   
   > -- jt]]   
      
   Okay, in general, that's not correct, but in one particular case, it is.   
      
   In a balloon, the internal air particles continually collide with the   
   walls, keeping it inflated.   
      
   In this case, we can say that the sum of all the forces exerted by the   
   air particles against the walls of the balloon is internal "energy,"   
   without direction.   
      
   [[Mod. note --   
   No, we can't (correctly) say that.   
      
   One way to see this is to compare two balloons A and B, both having   
   the same shape, and both inflated to the same pressure, but with B   
   being 10 times the diameter of A.   
      
   B has 1000 times as much volume of A, so compressing the air into B   
   required 1000 times as much energy as compressing the air into A, and   
   puncturing B can release 1000 times as much energy as puncturing A.   
      
   Since both balloons are inflated to the same pressure, the force   
   exerted by the compressed air on each square cm of B's outer skin   
   is the same as the force exerted by the conpressed air on each   
   square cm of A's outer skin.  B has 100 times as much surface area   
   as A, so the sum (really a surface integral) of all the forces   
   exerted by the compressed air against B's outer skin is 100 times   
   as much as the sum (surface integral) of all the forces exerted by   
   the compressed air against A's skin.   
      
   Comparing A vs B, we see that B stores 1000 times as much energy,   
   but has only 100 times as much total-force-on-outer-skin.  Since   
   energy varies *differently* from the total-force-on-outer-skin,   
   these things can't be the same.   
   -- jt]]   
      
   And when the balloon punctures and the air escapes, we can say that the   
   scalar internal energy has transformed into something else with vector   
   characteristics because the balloon, which was previously stationary, is   
   now accelerating due to the unbalanced air forces.   
      
   So, at least in this case, we can say that the balanced pushes are   
   energy and the unbalanced pushes are forces.   
      
   Luigi Fortunati   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
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