Orders of magnitude (specific energy)

Orders of magnitude refer to how big or small something is compared to a reference value. It's like comparing a tiny ant to a huge elephant. The difference in size is orders of magnitude.

Now, when we talk about specific energy, we're referring to how much energy is stored in a certain amount of material. For example, gasoline has a higher specific energy than wood because it can release more energy per unit of mass.

To understand orders of magnitude in specific energy, let's use an example. Imagine we have a battery that can store 1 joule of energy. If we increase the energy storage capacity by 10 times, that means it can now store 10 joules of energy. This is an increase of one order of magnitude.

If we increase the energy storage capacity again by 10 times, it can now store 100 joules of energy, which is an increase of two orders of magnitude.

So, when we talk about orders of magnitude in specific energy, we're basically talking about how many times bigger or smaller the energy storage capacity of a material is compared to another material.