On Sat, 24 Jan 2004 12:07:13 GMT, posted:

writes:
On 23 Jan 2004 12:07:49 -0800, (tcomeau) posted:

It has nothing to do with the Laws of Thermo. They apply to a
closed system. The human body is not a closed system.

Where does it state that the "conservation of energy principle"
applies only to a closed system?

In any text that covers thermodynamics. However, some conclusions can
be drawn anyway; the previous poster is incorrect.

Energy is conserved whatever. Over what arbitrary boundaries energy
transfers are measured, determines what a "closed system" is.

And what do you understand by a closed system?

A closed system is any system which has no energy sources or
sinks. The body is not "closed" because food provides an external
source of energy, and the toilet provides an external sink (!).

However, a locked room containing food for a month and a chemical
toilet IS a closed system.

Exactly!
Draw the boundaries and measure the energy transfers.

The human body can be studied as a closed system. It depends what you
measure and how rigorously.

Right.

I've been waiting many months for TC to point out ANY metabolic lab
study to show that a hypercaloric diet can result in fat storage loss.
No show, but he still persists.

Moosh