How much energy?

One joule is the normal unit of energy. It takes about 10 joules to lift one kilogram adistance of one meter. A joule is an amount of energy associated with everyday actions. The following chart gives the energy associated with various actions or events. Remember that this is a logarithmic scale; each division represents multiplication by 10.

My reactions to this chart of numbers. The first thing I notice is that the energy gained by eating one slice of apple pie can only be run off if one runs a mile. The next thing I notice is that the energy given in one day'smanual labor is equal to burning 1 lb of coal. Almost anyone will burn a pound of coal than hire a man for a day. I often think that the human race can control anything whose energy expenditure is lower than the energy sources we can control. For example we cannot control the weather since the energy in a hurricane or a thunderstorm is as much as an atomic explosion. All the energy ever produced by humans could not speed or slow down the earth's rotation even a little bit. Even an all out nuclear exchange (20000 megatons) is not as great as some volcanic eruptions or many earthquakes.