You have to dream before your dreams can come true

"Nooooo!" I woke up screaming.

It took a moment for me to grasp that I was in my bedroom and it was all a dream. A wave of relief washed over me.

As I recollected the dream, the similarity of the dream and the YouTube magnet video struck me. In the video a strong magnet pulled a weaker magnet apart. In the dream a massive star pulled a small planet apart . I lay awake thinking about the similarities between the video and the dream. In the video, it was the magnetic force that pulled the balls; in the dream it was the gravitational force that pulled the rocks. In the video, the small magnets had lot of energy when they snapped to the powerful magnet. In the dream, the rock chunks will have a lot of energy when the fall on star's surface.

I lay wondering whether similar thing happen with electric force too. Then it struck me. Yes! It does and it is called chemical reaction!

Atoms are made of massive positively charged nucleus in the middle and the light negatively charged electrons revolving around it. I wondered what would happen if a powerful atom comes near a weak atom. Would electrons rip off from the weak atom and fly towards the powerful atom just like the magnetic balls did in YouTube video and the rocks did in the dream? If they did, those electrons will have lot of kinetic energy which could be used to do work. So Chemical energy is nothing but electrical energy really!

Chemical energy is just like magnetic energy and Gravitational Energy
but in between atoms and electrons

I had tried to understand why when Petrol burns in Oxygen, we get lot of energy. The usual answer is that Petrol has lot of chemical energy. And that is what I had been trying to understand. And now thanks to the dream, I have been able to understand it! Assume that Oxygen has a great attraction for electrons. (It behaves like a strong magnet in the Youtube video). Also assume that the carbon atom in Petrol has much lesser attraction. (It behaves like the rhomboid magnet in the Youtube video). Now what will happen if we bring Petrol and Oxygen together in a chemical reaction? The electrons in Petrol molecule will be pulled towards Oxygen and the Petrol molecule will be ripped off. This will release lot of energy just like we saw in the YouTube video. And this energy is what we call chemical energy!

I got off my bed and went to the desk. I wanted to see whether I can explain photosynthesis using the way I had understood chemical reactions and chemical energy. It was difficult, but I stuck at it for an hour till I finally had a better understanding of photosynthesis. Let me try to explain it to to you too.

Chemical reactions happen because different nucleus have different capacity to attract electrons. Some atomic nucleus are like weak magnets (Sodium, Potassium, Carbon). Some atomic nucleus are like powerful magnets( Chlorine, Oxygen). Reactions where electrons fly from Carbon (weak magnet) to Oxygen (strong magnet) happen naturally. And these chemical reactions release lot of energy. (Remember the 'thud'! sound in the video when magnetic balls attach to strong magnet)

Reactions where electrons go away from Oxygen (strong magnet) to Carbon (weak magnet) don't happen naturally. We have to supply energy to make that happen. (Remember the effort the person puts to peel the magnetic balls from the powerful magnet. That is the kind of energy we need to supply. Of course we don't supply energy manually, but by heating and pressurizing.)

When we burn petrol in air, the chemical reaction is nothing but Oxygen (stronger magnet) pulling off the electrons from carbon (weaker magnet) in petrol. This reaction forms carbon Di oxide and water which escapes through exhaust. But the reaction also releases lot of energy , as heat, which is what is used to move the car. But Petrol cannot happen from Carbon Di oxide and water unless we supply a lot of energy. That is why Petrol is usually formed underground where there is lot of heat and pressure.

Now let us take a look at another reaction where we have to supply energy. This is a reaction where Glucose molecule is made. 

Glucose (C6H12O6)  is made from Carbon di oxide (CO2) and Water (H2O). To make this reaction happen we have to remove electrons from Oxygen (a strong magnet) in water(H2O). We need to give a lot of energy, just like the person in the video where he peeled the magnetic balls. But the energy needed is low enough to be obtained above ground. In fact, plants does exactly that. It uses the energy from sunlight, pulls the electron off oxygen in H2O and gives it to carbon in CO2 to form glucose. We call this reaction photosynthesis.

The Glucose that plants produce is consumed by us. When we need energy, all we do is burn glucose in air. Electrons from Carbon (weaker magnet) in glucose will rush towards oxygen (stronger magnet) releasing energy. That is exactly what we do when we breathe We inhale oxygen, burn glucose and use the released energy to do work. We call this reaction respiration.

The alarm in my father's bedroom chimed. A new day has started! My situation has not improved a lot. I and Janitor are having a fight. Bhumika is blackmailing me. But at least, now I understand chemical energy. 

It is a good start for the day, I think

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