How is the law of conservation of mass and energy applied in cooking?

Question

How is the law of conservation of mass and energy applied in cooking?

Answer 1

interesting question.. y dont you ask the cooks which have a Phd in physics... they will probably know the answer... just kidding... first define it "energy can be created nor destroyed, but can be transformed from one form to another".. now apply to cooking... basically you are transforming rotatory energy into stirring, that one.. now its your turn to find the other...

happy cooking... :)

Answer 2

For me it's easy...

The sum of the masses of the chicken and veggies that I roast in the oven EQUALS the mass of the charred remains of a bird + the shriveled up legumes + the black smoke + the grime on the inside of the oven.  WHY didn't I hear that bell go off????  (MASS CONSERVED)

The energy I put into cooking that dang meal is equal to the anger + frustration + heat + temperature rise in the kitchen (ENERGY CONSERVED)

Basically, all kidding aside.  Cooking is a lot like chemistry.  The sum of the mass of the reactants = the sum of the mass of the products and all the energy put in goes to raise the temp. of the food + surroundings.  The energy changes form (mostly to "waste" heat) and entropy ("random" motion), but the energy and mass don't disappear.