Scale of Energy
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Scale of Energy
PlayableFrom one heartbeat to one second of the Sun.
Scale of Energy is a free interactive energy visualization that puts everyday things and cosmic events on one kilowatt-hour scale. Start with a single heartbeat, then swipe upward through asking an AI a question, a Google search, charging your phone, a 10-minute hot shower, driving an electric car 100 miles, one Bitcoin transaction, a bolt of lightning and a home's electricity for a whole year.
Every step shows the energy in kWh and how many times bigger it is than the step before. A logarithmic ruler along the bottom tracks how far you have climbed, and the room glows warmer as the numbers grow. Near the top, the Hiroshima bomb, training GPT-4, a hurricane and all of humanity's energy use for a year lead to the final stop: the Sun, for one second.
Before you start, you guess how many kilowatt-hours one second of sunshine is. At the end, the game tells you how far off you were. Like Fold to the Moon, it is a quiet little experiment about numbers that are far too big for intuition. No download or signup needed.
How to play
Pick your guess for how many kWh the Sun produces in one second, then press Let's climb.
Swipe up, scroll, use the arrow keys or press Next to move to the next step. Each screen shows one thing, its energy in kWh and how much bigger it is than the last one. Use Back to compare again.
Reach the Sun to see your result, then start again or move on to the next game. You can turn the sound off at any time.
How much energy does the Sun produce per second?
The Sun's total power output is about 3.8 × 10²⁶ watts. That means one second of sunshine releases about 3.8 × 10²⁶ joules, or roughly 100 quintillion (10²⁰) kilowatt-hours. That is around 170 times more energy than all of humanity uses in a year.
What uses 1 kWh of electricity?
- Charging a phone: about 0.02 kWh, so roughly 50 full charges per kWh.
- An hour of video streaming: about 0.08 kWh.
- Boiling a litre of water: about 0.09 kWh.
- A 10-minute hot shower: about 3 kWh.
- Driving an electric car 100 miles: about 37 kWh.
- One Bitcoin transaction: several hundred kWh, more than a typical home uses in weeks.
Why energy needs a logarithmic scale
From a heartbeat to one second of the Sun is a jump of about 26 orders of magnitude. On an ordinary ruler, everything below a lightning bolt would be squeezed into an invisible dot. A logarithmic scale gives each factor of ten the same space, so a phone charge and a hurricane can share the same screen.
The top of the scale also touches the Kardashev scale, a way of ranking civilizations by how much energy they can harness. Humanity still uses only a tiny fraction of what the Sun produces every second.
FAQ
How much electricity does a Google search use?
Google estimated about 0.0003 kWh (0.3 Wh) per search in 2009. Modern figures vary, and AI-assisted answers can use more. The game uses published estimates and links its sources.
How many kWh is one second of the Sun?
Roughly 10²⁰ kWh, or about 100 quintillion kilowatt-hours, based on the Sun's luminosity of about 3.8 × 10²⁶ watts.
How much energy is in a bolt of lightning?
A typical lightning bolt carries on the order of a billion joules, or several hundred kWh, though estimates vary widely between strikes.
Are the numbers exact?
No. Each step is a rounded estimate from a public source, such as government energy agencies or research papers. The point is the order of magnitude, not the last decimal.
Is Scale of Energy free and playable on mobile?
Yes. Play free in your browser without an account. Swipe on a phone, or scroll and use the arrow keys on desktop.
Energy values are rounded estimates from published sources and are meant to show orders of magnitude, not precise measurements.
