Hypothesis: Energy in Minecraft can be mapped out into constants and usable equations, just like on Earth. The constants and equations will obviously have to be different in order to fit the more flexible nature of the minecraft Universe. By basing everything off of a unit which I am calling "The Cobble" [Just as there are Joules in true Chemistry] Each fuel and heat/light producing object can be given a value as to how much heat/light they give off compared to everything else.
First Test: What is a Cobble?To set up this experiment, I built a furnace, and got a few stacks of cobblestone, coal, logs, and a few buckets of lava [three main fuels]
It turns out that all materials cause cobblestone to be transformed at the same rate... which is good! Because in a furnace, what is doing the transforming is NOT the fuel, but the fire and heat generated by the fuel. The more efficient or powerful the fuel, the more fire and heat it can generate, therefore, the more cobblestone it can convert. I have decided that the amount of heat a fire produces in 10 seconds shall be called "1 Cobble"or, C. You'll understand why after seeing this data...
Trial time results are nearly exactly the same for all fuel types, deviations are due to human error.
Not all fuel types can yield as many as 8 cobblestone, but still produce it at the same rate.
Cobble Cooking Data (Click to see data) - Spoiler:
My data:
8 block cooking with coal:
Trial 1: 9.507
Trial 2: 10.653
Trial 3: 9.903
Trial 4: 9.909
Trial 5: 10.009
Trial 6: 9.744
Trial 7: 10.139
Trial 8: 9.652
Total time: 79.5 seconds
Avg: 9.94 seconds <--- This is the time it takes for 1 cobble of energy to be released. We're calling this 10.
Now we're getting somewhere. I am going to set up a constant now called "Rate of Fire" [Fr]which forever seems to be 10s/1c where c is 1 cobblestone block. This measurement can also be called C, [uppercase, different from lowercase] also known as 1 Cobble. Essentially, 1 Cobble is the amount of energy a minecraft fire releases in 10 seconds, it is enough to transform 1 cobblestone into a stone.
With these values, keeping in mind that each fuel lasts for it's own specific length of time we can now derive the Cobble Value for each fuel type using an equation such as this:
pC = Mf * x/Fr
pC is cobbles, potential in this case because we are being theoretical.
Mf is essentialy the amount of time it takes for 1 of a fuel to be used up [in seconds]. A fuel will always be used up in the same amount of time, depending on what it is. This value is a variable constant [if that makes sense].
These are the Mf values I gathered:
Coal - 80s
Log - 15s
Wood - 15s (however, 1 log makes 4 of these... more on that later)
Stick - 5s
Lava Bucket - 1000s
x is the amount of the material you have, unitless.
Fr is the "Rate of Fire" that we found to be 10s/c
We can run a test equation on Coal to find out it's energy in terms of pC:
pC = 80s(1)/10s/c
pC = 80s(1c)/10s
pC = 8c
So in this case, 1 Coal has an energy value of 8C, or 8Cobbles.
Frankly, the name Cobble is arbitrary, as I have found that ALL materials absorb the equivalent of 1 cobble in order to be manufactured, such as, sand -> glass, and, iron ore -> ingots.
Second Test: So what is the best fuel?Well... that's a tough question. Are you talking about the most efficient fuel, or the most powerful fuel? How about the most abundant fuel? If you're going for convienience, Coal is the way to go, it's a staple. 8 Coal, 64 blocks of whatever, done. But coal is definitely not as readily availible as wood is, and by breaking 1 log up into 4 wood, you have yielded something with a potential energy of 6C while a coal which you have to go mining for has the potential energy of 8C. The 2C difference is a convenience at best. Making wood into sticks in not advised as this lowers your fuel efficiency by around 33.33% from 4 wood blocks.
Lava is by far the most powerful fuel, and MAY be seen as the most efficient, but it takes very very long to prepare a bucket of lava compared to a 4 block stack of wood. wood is the value pack, Lava is the bulk for those who are patient.
I've gone ahead and calculated the potential values of all of the most widely used fuels for your viewing pleasure:
Coal - 8C
Log - 1.5C
Wood - 1.5C * 4
Stick - .5C * 8
Lava - 100C
Third Test: Light?Light in minecraft is slightly confusing, and there are many puzzling factors as to what I've calculated.
Firstly, now that we know the pC of some raw materials, proceeding to analyze the pC of compounds we may attempt to discover how pC relates to Light.
1 Torch is composed of 1/4 coal and 1/4 stick. This is because 1 coal and 1 stick makes 4 torches.
To calculate the pC of a torch we must do the following:
(pC Coal + pC Stick) / 4
(8 + 1/2)/4 = 17/8
So the energy required to light a torch is equal to 17/8 Cobbles. That amount of energy could convert 2.125 cobblestone into stone.
After studying the amount of light given off by a torch, I've come to the conclusion that it is SLIGHTLY less bright that that of a normal fire, and equally as bright to a fire given off by a furnace. This leads me to the conclusion that the fire in the furnace is actually burning as bright as a normal fire and is simply stifled by the stone walls of the furnace. This also leads me to the next step of this experiment... The failings and mysteries.
Conclusions/TL;DR/ Failings and mysteries- Flame produces enough energy to convert 1 cobblestone to smooth stone in 10 seconds.
Different fuels can produce flame for longer amounts of time.
Each multiple of 10 seconds a fuel can produce flame is called 1 Cobble. The Cobble can be considered the base unit of heat in Minecraft.
By adding the potential Cobbles of materials, the potential cobbles of compounds can be calculated, however...
this does not always hold true.
Logs burn the same as wood... though logs technically have more material
Chests and Workbenches though made of more wood burn for the same amount of time as 1 wood...
Jack-O-Lanterns somehow burn brighter than normal exposed torches...
Brimstone/Sulfur/Lightstone/Brightstone/Australium does not produce a flame and cannot be used as fuel, yet it produces light equal to that of flame, and heat as well. Perhaps it is some inherent hellish property, or perhaps it is operating off of some sort of chemical flourescence...
I need your brilliant minds to help me with this one
