Home | Physics | How the Law of Conservation of Energy is related to Biology?

How the Law of Conservation of Energy is related to Biology?

June 3, 2022
written by Qamar Zaman
image showing biology relationship with physics law of conservation of energy

In science, there are many rules and laws that apply to different parts of our world. One of these is known as the Law of Conservation of Energy. This means that energy can neither be created nor destroyed, only changed from one form to another.

Download the pdf notes of How the Law of Conservation of Energy is related to Biology

The Law of Conservation of Energy is applied to living organisms such as plants and animals. Some laws apply to other aspects of our world including electricity. Here is how these laws are applied in biology.


Related article

How Physics Is Related With Biology?

How the laws of probability are related to Biology?


When a living organism uses energy to carry out chemical reactions it changes the chemical bonds in that energy. The energy used in this process is known as chemical potential energy. At the same time, the new molecules that are produced have different bonds.

These bonds are made up of different types of atoms. As a result, the new molecules are formed with a different amount of chemical potential energy.

This energy difference is known as entropy. When the chemical potential energy of one molecule equals that of another, then the two molecules are said to be in equilibrium.

When living organisms consume energy, they are converting chemical potential energy into the energy that drives chemical reactions. When they eat food, they are using food to make energy available to their cells.

This makes sure that the chemical potential energy of food molecules is the same as the chemical potential energy of the molecules the organism produces.

Therefore, it does not matter what the food is. All that matters is that the chemical potential energy of the food is equal to the chemical potential energy of the organism.

This is the principle that applies to all living organisms. Energy is constantly being converted from one form into another and this helps us understand how life forms are able to sustain themselves.

The energy we use to keep ourselves healthy is called biological energy. We need to consume food to provide the energy we need. In turn, this converts chemical potential energy into the energy that powers all our activities.