It's Only Heat

At the end, all that remains is heat. All things end by fragmentation into heat. It makes no difference whether through decay, chemical action, combustion, or nuclear explosion (all the same thing) the residue is heat. Even the light produced in the process ends as heat. So what is heat?
All things are made of atoms of matter that are in turn an assembly of electrons, protons, neutrons and the energy that provides the force that bind those components to give existence to the atoms. Even the neutrons and protons are assembled elementary components and the energy that provides the force that bind those components to give existence as protons and neutrons. Basically then, all things are elementary components and the energy that bind them into making things. A hydrogen atom for example is made of one proton, one electron and the energy that provides binding and its behavior is the product of those components. When hydrogen in the presence of oxygen is involved in combustion for example, the residue is heat with the electrons, protons and neutrons of which those atoms are made, realigned as H2O or water. So where did the released heat come from?
Most people who have not been brainwashed by “the phobia of absolutes” would recognize that the only thing fragmented in the example is the energy that had been binding the components to give the hydrogen and oxygen atoms there existence and that new bonds were formed to assemble those components into the new water molecules. If the binding energy of the hydrogen and oxygen atoms were released as heat, people not brainwashed by “the phobia of absolutes” would recognize that new energy was supplied for that purpose. Not rocket science.
If heat is the residue of broken links of atomic binding energy, how does the residue of binding energy produce heat? Again, people without “the phobia of absolutes” would conclude it is because that is what binding energy is made of. Actually, what is called heat is the reaction produced by the binding energy residue not the residue itself.
Consider the behavioral characteristics of heat. First, heat can exist and move only when absorbed by an atom or assembly of atoms or when being drawn (called radiation) by the attracting force of an atom or assembly of atoms. Second, heat is drawn to the atom or assembly of atoms that applies the strongest binding force, which means that the intervening distance is an important factor as well as the amount of retained heat since heat saps the strength of atoms. When binding energy is expended attracting heat there is less binding power with which to bind itself and the involved assembly expands. It is in response to that process that materials change state from solid to liquid to gas and at some point, electrons are freed (as beta rays) and the involved atoms and molecules disintegrate to release more “heat”. In some cases a chain reaction results in combustion or explosion. In other cases, as when an atom or molecule of a nerve sensing “organ” is involved, the involved cells emit a signal that the brain interprets as heat or a burn.