The internal energy U might be thought of as the energy required to create a system in the absence of changes in temperature or volume. But as discussed in defining enthalpy, an additional amount of work PV must be done if the system is created from a very small volume in order to "create room" for the system. As discussed in defining the Helmholtz free energy, an environment at constant temperature T will contribute an amount TS to the system, reducing the overall investment necessary for creating the system. This net energy contribution for a system created in environment temperature T from a negligible initial volume is the Gibbs free energy.