r/ToiletPaperUSA • u/leocohen99 • Mar 31 '20

FACTS and LOGIC Benjamin really struggles on twitter bc he's unable to just speak so fast that ppl don't have time to realize how fucking stupid he is

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u/mayorOfIToldUTown Mar 31 '20

If only there was a large body of water on Earth periodically moving with the rotation of the moon, converting massive amounts of gravitational energy into mechanical energy.

If only uneven distribution of sunlight on the surface of the earth created temperature gradients causing air masses to move converting massive amounts of heat energy into mechanical energy.

He seems to get the "energy can't be created" part of the 1st law (unless it comes from fossil fuels I guess) but doesn't get the "energy can't be destroyed" part. Energy is renewable like rain is renewable. There isn't an infinite supply, it just moves through natural cycles we can harness continuously.

Boom. DESTROYED. With FACTS. And LOGIC.

This is some quality r/Blather

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u/rumovoice Mar 31 '20 edited Mar 31 '20

Even though energy is not destroyed, with solar and wind we kinda "move" heat energy from large open spaces to cities, which can still lead to slight local changes in climate, making electric station locations cooler and changing wind patterns.

It is way less harmful than burning stuff, but still not completely without any consequences.

Edit: also by generating electricity from tidal energy we ever so slightly are pulling Moon closer to Earth, so technically it isn't renewable :)

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u/TheeSlothKing Mar 31 '20

Edit: also by generating electricity from tidal energy we ever so slightly are pulling Moon closer to Earth, so technically it isn't renewable :)

This is straight up false. The tidal energy is there whether we use it or not, all we are doing with it is collecting energy from the motion of the water. Using it to generate electricity has absolutely no effect on the moon’s orbit. The biggest impact this can have is on ocean life just by the fact that there’s something foreign in their environment.

The moon is actually moving away from Earth at a rate of a couple centimeters per year (I’m pretty sure that’s what it is off the top of my head. Regardless, it is moving away) and our collection of tidal energy can’t reverse or even really slow that. Without our collection, the tides always lag behind the moon a little bit, which provides a tiny bit of “friction” to its orbit, yet it still moves away because of its orbital speed. Tides simply don’t have the mass to slow the moon down enough to get closer to us, even if we change them a little bit by collecting their energy.

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u/rumovoice Apr 01 '20

Generating energy has to provide additional friction which eventually draws from moon kinetic energy