# effort (general)

the use of energy to make a change in something

- Computed level: L7 (depth in the emergence graph, not abstraction)
- Status: review  ·  Domain: general  ·  Arena: effort

## Emergence
**Emerges from:** [energy](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-energy.capacity), [change](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-change.process), [make](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-make.verb), [use](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-use.application)

**Through:** energy is applied through use to enable making, resulting in change.

**Novel properties:**
- directed energy expenditure
- intentional transformation
- measured consumption

## Examples
- The James Webb Space Telescope corrects its mirror alignment monthly to compensate for thermal drift in orbit. *(engineering)*
- E. coli bacteria expend ATP to rotate flagella and swim toward glucose gradients in gut environments. *(biology)*
- The 2023 German railway strike disrupted national transit as workers withheld labor from scheduling systems. *(institutions)*

## Used by
- [factor of safety](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-factor-of-safety.margin) (L15)
- [power](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-power.energy) (L19)
- [study](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-study.learning) (L11)

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*Canonical: https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-effort.general*  
*Structured data: https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-effort.general.json*  
*Every definition provably resolves to space, time, energy and pattern.*