FREE ENERGY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does free energy mean? 

• FREE ENERGY (noun)
  The noun FREE ENERGY has 1 sense:

1. (physics) a thermodynamic quantity equivalent to the capacity of a physical system to do work; the units of energy are joules or ergs

  Familiarity information: FREE ENERGY used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• FREE ENERGY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

(physics) a thermodynamic quantity equivalent to the capacity of a physical system to do work; the units of energy are joules or ergs

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural phenomena

Synonyms:

energy; free energy

Context example:

energy can take a wide variety of forms

Hypernyms ("free energy" is a kind of...):

physical phenomenon (a natural phenomenon involving the physical properties of matter and energy)

Domain category:

natural philosophy; physics (the science of matter and energy and their interactions)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "free energy"):

activation energy; energy of activation (the energy that an atomic system must acquire before a process (such as an emission or reaction) can occur)

alternative energy (energy derived from sources that do not use up natural resources or harm the environment)

atomic energy; nuclear energy (the energy released by a nuclear reaction)

binding energy; separation energy (the energy required to separate particles from a molecule or atom or nucleus; equals the mass defect)

chemical energy (that part of the energy in a substance that can be released by a chemical reaction)

electrical energy; electricity; power (energy made available by the flow of electric charge through a conductor)

energy level; energy state (a definite stable energy that a physical system can have; used especially of the state of electrons in atoms or molecules)

rest energy (the energy equivalent to the mass of a particle at rest in an inertial frame of reference; equal to the rest mass times the square of the speed of light)

work ((physics) a manifestation of energy; the transfer of energy from one physical system to another expressed as the product of a force and the distance through which it moves a body in the direction of that force)

heat; heat energy (a form of energy that is transferred by a difference in temperature)

mechanical energy (energy in a mechanical form)

radiant energy (energy that is transmitted in the form of (electromagnetic) radiation; energy that exists in the absence of matter)

radiation (energy that is radiated or transmitted in the form of rays or waves or particles)

 Context examples 

Computer technique for predicting conformation of protein or other macromolecule by rotating all bonds so as to minimize free energy; in looser parlance, term may refer to intramolecular motion.

(Molecular Dynamics, NIH CRISP Thesaurus)

The steps along the pathway each involve a change in the free energy of the products and reactants, and as long as the overall change in free energy is negative, the reaction continues forward, like water flowing down hill to its lowest energy point.

(Glycolysis Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)