Forms of energy

ergy (among atoms and molecules), as is chemical energy,

which is stored and released from a reservoir of electrical
potential energy between electrons, and the molecules or
atomic nuclei that attract them. .
Potential energies are often measured as positive or negative depending on whether they are greater or less than
the energy of a specied base state or conguration such
as two interacting bodies being innitely far apart.
Wave energies (such as radiant or sound energy), kinetic
energy, and rest energy are each greater than or equal to
zero because they are measured in comparison to a base
state of zero energy: no wave, no motion, and no
inertia, respectively.
Thermal energy is energy of microscopic constituents of matter,
which may include both kinetic and potential energy.

It has been attempted to categorize all forms of energy as

either kinetic or potential, but as Richard Feynman points
out:

In the context of physical sciences, several forms of energy have been identied. These include:

These notions of potential and kinetic energy depend on a notion of length scale. For example, one can speak of macroscopic potential
and kinetic energy, which do not include thermal potential and kinetic energy. Also what
is called chemical potential energy is a macroscopic notion, and closer examination shows
that it is really the sum of the potential and kinetic energy on the atomic and subatomic scale.
Similar remarks apply to nuclear potential
energy and most other forms of energy. This
dependence on length scale is non-problematic
if the various length scales are decoupled, as is
often the case ... but confusion can arise when
dierent length scales are coupled, for instance
when friction converts macroscopic work into
microscopic thermal energy.

Some entries in the above list constitute or comprise

others in the list. The list is not necessarily complete.
Whenever physical scientists discover that a certain phenomenon appears to violate the law of energy conservation, new forms are typically added that account for the
discrepancy.
Heat and work are special cases in that they are not properties of systems, but are instead properties of processes
that transfer energy. In general we cannot measure how
much heat or work are present in an object, but rather
only how much energy is transferred among objects in
certain ways during the occurrence of a given process.
Heat and work are measured as positive or negative depending on which side of the transfer we view them from.
Classical mechanics distinguishes between kinetic energy, which is determined by an objects movement
through space, and potential energy, which is a function
of the position of an object within a eld, which may itself
be related to the arrangement of other objects or particles. These include gravitational energy (which is stored
in the way masses are arranged in a gravitational eld),
several types of nuclear energy (which utilize potentials
from the nuclear force and the weak force), electric energy (from the electric eld), and magnetic energy (from
the magnetic eld).

Also, at relativistic speeds, dening kinetic energy is

problematic because the energy due to the bodys motion
does not simply contribute additively to the total energy
as it does at classical speeds.
Energy may be transformed between dierent forms at
various eciencies. Items that transform between these
forms are called transducers.

Other familiar types of energy are a varying mix of both

potential and kinetic energy. An example is mechanical 1 Mechanical energy
energy which is the sum of (usually macroscopic) kinetic and potential energy in a system. Elastic energy in Main article: Mechanical energy
materials is also dependent upon electrical potential en1

4 MECHANICAL WORK

General non-relativistic mechanics

Special relativistic mechanics

Mechanical energy (symbols EM or E) manifest in many

forms, but can be broadly classied into potential energy
(E , V, U or ) and kinetic energy (E or T). The term
potential energy is a very general term, because it exists
in all force elds, such as gravitation, electrostatic and
magnetic elds. Potential energy refers to the energy any
object gain due to its position in a force eld.

At speeds approaching the speed of light c, this work must

be calculated using Lorentz transformations, and applying
mass and energy conservation, which results in

The relation between mechanical energy with kinetic and

potential energy is simply

Ek = ( 1) mc2 ,
where
1
=
( )2
1 vc

E =T +V

is the lorentz factor.

Lagrangian and Hamiltonian mechanics

Here the two terms on the right hand side are identied
In more advanced topics, kinetic plus potential energy is
with the total energy and the rest energy of the object,
physically the total energy of the system, but also known
respectively. This equation reduces to the one above it, at
as the Hamiltonian of the system:
small (compared to c) speed. The kinetic energy is zero
at v=0 (when = 1), so that at rest, the total energy is the
rest energy. So a mass at rest in some inertial reference
H = T + V,
frame has a corresponding amount of rest energy equal
to:
used in Hamiltons equations of motion, to obtain equations describing a classical system in terms of energy
rather than forces. The Hamiltonian is just a mathematiE0 = m0 c2
cal expression, rather than a form of energy.
Another analogous quantity of diverse applicability and All masses at rest have a tremendous amount of energy,
due to the proportionality factor of c2 .
eciency is the Lagrangian of the system:

3 Potential energy

L=T V

used in Lagranges equations of motion, which serve the Main article: Potential energy
same purpose as Hamiltons equations.

Potential energy is dened as the work done against a

given force in changing the position of an object with respect to a reference position, often taken to be innite
separation. In other words it is the work done on the object to give it that much energy. Changes in work and
potential energy are related simply,

Kinetic energy

Main article: Kinetic energy

General scope

Kinetic energy is the work required to accelerate an object

U = W
to a given speed. In general:
The name potential energy originally signied the idea
that the energy could readily be transferred as work at

least in an idealized system (reversible process, see beEk = F dx = v dp

low). This is not completely true for any real system, but
is often a reasonable rst approximation in classical meClassical mechanics
chanics.
In classical mechanics, for a particle of constant mass m,
in which case the force acting on it is F = ma where a is
the particles acceleration vector, the integral is:

4 Mechanical work

Ek =

Fdx = m

dv
vdt = m
dt

dvv = m

Work (physics)
Main article:
1
1
d(vv) = mv 2
2
2

3
Translational motion
If F is the force and r is the displacement, then the change
F = kx
in mechanical work done along the path between positions r1 and r2 due to the force is, in integral form:
where k is the force constant of the particular spring or
system. In this case the force is conservative, the calculated work becomes
r2
F dr

W =
r1

(the dot represents the scalar product of the two vectors).

The general equation above can be simplied in a number
of common cases, notably when dealing with gravity or
with elastic forces. If the force is conservative the equation can be written in dierential form as

F = W
Rotational motion

Ep,e =

1 2
kx
2

If k is not constant the above equation will fail. Hookes

law is a good approximation for behaviour of chemical
bonds under stable conditions, i.e. when they are not being broken or formed.

6 Surface energy

The rotational analogue is the work done by a torque , If there is any kind of tension in a surface, such as a
stretched sheet of rubber or material interfaces, it is posbetween the angles 1 and 2 ,
sible to dene surface energy.

W =

| | d

Elastic potential energy

If is the surface tension, and S = surface area, then the

work done W to increase the area by a unit area is the
surface energy:

dW = dS.
In particular, any meeting of dissimilar materials that do
not mix will result in some kind of surface tension, if
there is freedom for the surfaces to move then, as seen
in capillary surfaces for example, the minimum energy
will as usual be sought.

A minimal surface, for example, represents the smallest possible energy that a surface can have if its energy
is proportional to the area of the surface. For this reason, (open) soap lms of small size are minimal surfaces
(small size reduces gravity eects, and openness prevents
pressure from building up. Note that a bubble is a minimum energy surface but not a minimal surface by deniAs a ball falls freely under the inuence of gravity, it accelerates tion).
downward, its initial potential energy converting into kinetic energy. On impact with a hard surface the ball deforms, converting
the kinetic energy into elastic potential energy. As the ball springs
back, the energy converts back rstly to kinetic energy and then
as the ball re-gains height into potential energy. Energy conversion to heat due to inelastic deformation and air resistance cause
each successive bounce to be lower than the last.

Main article: Elastic potential energy

Elastic potential energy is dened as a work needed to
compress or extend a spring. The tension/compression
force F in a spring or any other system which obeys
Hookes law is proportional to the extension/compression
x,

7 Sound energy
Main article: Sound energy
Sound is a form of mechanical vibration which propagates through any mechanical medium. It is closely related to the ability of the human ear to perceive sound.
The wide outer area of the ear is maximized to collect
sound vibrations. It is amplied and passed through the
outer ear, striking the eardrum, which transmits sounds
into the inner ear. Auditory nerves re according to the
particular vibrations of the sound waves in the inner ear,

10 CHEMICAL ENERGY

which designate such things as the pitch and volume of A heat is dened as a transfer (ow) of thermal energy
the sound. The ear is set up in an optimal way to inter- across certain boundary (for example, from a hot body to
pret sound energy in the form of vibrations.
cold via the area of their contact). A practical denition
for small transfers of heat is

Gravitational potential energy

T2

Cv dT

q =
Main article: Gravitational potential energy
The gravitational force very near the surface of a massive
body (e.g. a planet) varies very little with small changes
in height, h, and locally is equal mg where m is mass, and
g is the gravitational acceleration (AKA eld strength).
At the Earths surface g = 9.81 m s1 . In these cases, the
gravitational potential energy is given by

T1

where Cv is the heat capacity of the system. This definition will fail if the system undergoes a phase transitione.g. if ice is melting to wateras in these cases
the system can absorb heat without increasing its temperature. In more complex systems, it is preferable to use
the concept of internal energy rather than that of thermal
energy (see Chemical energy below).

Despite the theoretical problems, the above denition

is useful in the experimental measurement of energy
Ep,g mgh
changes. In a wide variety of situations, it is possible to
use the energy released by a system to raise the temperaA more general expression for the potential energy due to ture of another object, e.g. a bath of water. It is also posNewtonian gravitation between two bodies of masses m1 sible to measure the amount of electric energy required to
and m2 , is
raise the temperature of the object by the same amount.
The calorie was originally dened as the amount of energy
required to raise the temperature of one gram of water
Gm1 m2
by 1 C (approximately 4.1855 J, although the denition
Ep,g =
r
later changed), and the British thermal unit was dened
where r is the separation between the two bodies and G is as the energy required to heat one pound of water by 1 F
the gravitational constant, 6.6742(10) 1011 m3 kg1 (later xed as 1055.06 J).
s2 .[1] In this case, the zero potential reference point Kinetic theory
is the innite separation of the two bodies. Care must
be taken that these masses are point masses or uniform In kinetic theory which describes the ideal gas, the therspherical solids/shells. It cannot be applied directly to any mal energy per degree of freedom is given by:
objects of any shape and any mass.
In terms of the gravitational potential (, U or V), the potential energy is (by denition of gravitational potential),

Ep,g = m

Thermal energy

U=

df
kB T
2

where df is the number of degrees of freedom and kB

is the Boltzmann constant. The total themeral energies
would equal the total internal energy of the gas, since intermolecular potential energy is neglected in this theory.
The term kBT occurs very frequently into statistical thermodynamics.

Main article: Thermal energy

10 Chemical energy
General scope
Thermal energy (of some state of matter - gas, plasma,
solid, etc.) is the energy associated with the microscopical random motion of particles constituting the media.
For example, in case of monatomic gas it is just a kinetic
energy of motion of atoms of gas as measured in the reference frame of the center of mass of gas. In case of
molecules in the gas rotational and vibrational energy is
involved. In the case of liquids and solids there is also
potential energy (of interaction of atoms) involved, and
so on.

Main article: Chemical thermodynamic

Chemical energy is the energy due to excretion of atoms
in molecules and various other kinds of aggregates of
matter. It may be dened as a work done by electric
forces during re-arrangement of mutual positions of electric charges, electrons and protons, in the process of aggregation. So, basically it is electrostatic potential energy
of electric charges. If the chemical energy of a system
decreases during a chemical reaction, the dierence is

5
transferred to the surroundings in some form (often heat
or light); on the other hand if the chemical energy of a
system increases as a result of a chemical reaction - the
dierence then is supplied by the surroundings (usually
again in form of heat or light). For example,
when two hydrogen atoms react to form a dihydrogen molecule, the chemical energy decreases by 724 zJ (the bond energy of the HH
bond);

other forms of energy. the energy consumption (one

should really speak of energy transformation) of a society or country is often quoted in reference to the average
energy released by the combustion of these fossil fuels:
1 tonne of coal equivalent (TCE) = 29.3076 GJ
= 8,141 kilowatt hour
1 tonne of oil equivalent (TOE) = 41.868 GJ =
11,630 kilowatt hour

when the electron is completely removed from

a hydrogen atom, forming a hydrogen ion (in
the gas phase), the chemical energy increases
by 2.18 aJ (the ionization energy of hydrogen).

On the same basis, a tank-full of gasoline (45 litres, 12

gallons) is equivalent to about 1.6 GJ of chemical energy.
Another chemically based unit of measurement for energy is the tonne of TNT", taken as 4.184 GJ. Hence,
burning a tonne of oil releases about ten times as much
It is common to quote the changes in chemical energy for energy as the explosion of one tonne of TNT: fortunately,
one mole of the substance in question: typical values for the energy is usually released in a slower, more controlled
the change in molar chemical energy during a chemical manner.
reaction range from tens to hundreds of kilojoules per Simple examples of storage of chemical energy are batmole.
teries and food. When food is digested and metabolized
The chemical energy as dened above is also referred to
by chemists as the internal energy, U: technically, this is
measured by keeping the volume of the system constant.
Most practical chemistry is performed at constant pressure and, if the volume changes during the reaction (e.g.
a gas is given o), a correction must be applied to take
account of the work done by or on the atmosphere to obtain the enthalpy, H, this correction is the work done by
an expanding gas,

(often with oxygen), chemical energy is released, which

can in turn be transformed into heat, or by muscles into
kinetic energy.
According to the Bohr theory of the atom, the chemical
energy is characterized by the Rydberg constant.

Ry =

me e4
1
= 2 me c2 = 13.605 692 53(30) eV
820 h2
2

(see Rydberg constant for the meaning of the symbols).

E = pV
so the enthalpy now reads;

H = U + pV

11 Electric energy
Main articles: Electromagnetism and Electricity

A second correction, for the change in entropy, S, must

also be performed to determine whether a chemical reac- 11.1 Electrostatic energy
tion will take place or not, giving the Gibbs free energy,
G. The correction is the energy required to create order General scope
from disorder,[2]
The electric potential energy of given conguration of
charges is dened as the work which must be done against
the Coulomb force to rearrange charges from innite sepE = T S
aration to this conguration (or the work done by the
Coulomb force separating the charges from this congso we have;
uration to innity). For two point-like charges Q1 and
Q2 at a distance r this work, and hence electric potential
energy is equal to:
G = H T S
These corrections are sometimes negligible, but often not
1 Q1 Q2
(especially in reactions involving gases).
Ep,e =
40 r
Since the industrial revolution, the burning of coal, oil,
natural gas or products derived from them has been a so- where 0 is the electric constant of a vacuum, 107 /4c0 2
cially signicant transformation of chemical energy into or 8.854188 1012 F m1 .[1] In terms of electrostatic

11

ELECTRIC ENERGY

potential ( for absolute, V for dierence in potential), General scope

again by denition, electrostatic potential energy is given There is no fundamental dierence between magnetic enby:
ergy and electric energy: the two phenomena are related
by Maxwells equations. The potential energy of a magnet
of magnetic moment m in a magnetic eld B is dened as
Ep,e = q
the work of magnetic force (actually of magnetic torque)
If the charge is accumulated in a capacitor (of capacitance on re-alignment of the vector of the magnetic dipole moC), the reference conguration is usually selected not to ment, and is equal to:
be innite separation of charges, but vice versa - charges
at an extremely close proximity to each other (so there
is zero net charge on each plate of a capacitor). The
justication for this choice is purely practical - it is easier to measure both voltage dierence and magnitude of
charges on a capacitor plates not versus innite separation
of charges but rather versus discharged capacitor where
charges return to close proximity to each other (electrons
and ions recombine making the plates neutral). In this
case the work and thus the electric potential energy becomes

Ep,m = m B
Electric circuits
The energy stored in an inductor (of inductance L) carrying current I is

Ep,m =

1 2
LI
2

This second expression forms the

superconducting magnetic energy storage.
Ep,e =

Q2
1
1
= CV 2 = V Q
2C
2
2

basis

for

11.4 Electromagnetic energy

(dierent forms obtained using the denition of capacitance).

Calculating work needed to create an electric or magnetic
eld in unit volume (say, in a capacitor or an inductor)
results in the electric and magnetic elds energy densities:
11.2 Electric energy
Main article: Electric energy
ue =
Electric circuits

V 2t
= I 2 Rt
R

where V is the electric potential dierence (in volts), Q

is the charge (in coulombs), I is the current (in amperes),
t is the time for which the current ows (in seconds), P
is the power (in watts) and R is the electric resistance (in
ohms). The last of these expressions is important in the
practical measurement of energy, as potential dierence,
resistance and time can all be measured with considerable
accuracy.

11.3

um =

1
2
|B|
20

in SI units.

If an electric current passes through a resistor, electric

energy is converted to heat; if the current passes through
an electric appliance, some of the electric energy will be
converted into other forms of energy (although some will
always be lost as heat). The amount of electric energy
due to an electric current can be expressed in a number
of dierent ways:

E = V Q = V It = P t =

0
2
|E| ,
2

Magnetic energy

Main article: Magnetic energy

Electromagnetic radiation, such as microwaves, visible

light or gamma rays, represents a ow of electromagnetic
energy. Applying the above expressions to magnetic and
electric components of electromagnetic eld both the volumetric density and the ow of energy in EM eld can be
calculated. The resulting Poynting vector, which is expressed as

S=

1
E B,

in SI units, gives the density of the ow of energy and its

direction.
The energy of electromagnetic radiation is quantized (has
discrete energy levels). The energy of a photon is:

E = h =

hc

so the spacing between energy levels is:

(
E = E2 E1 = hc (2 1 ) = hc

1
1

2
1

7
where h is the Planck constant, 6.6260693(11)1034 the Sun have an average mass that is less than the protons
Js,[1] and is the frequency of the radiation. This quan- which formed them, and this mass dierence (4 million
tity of electromagnetic energy is usually called a photon. tons/second) is the mass that moves o as sunlight.
The photons which make up visible light have energies of
270520 yJ, equivalent to 160310 kJ/mol, the strength
of weaker chemical bonds.
13 See also

12

Nuclear energy

Main article: Nuclear binding energy

Nuclear potential energy, along with electric potential
energy, provides the energy released from nuclear ssion
and nuclear fusion processes. The result of both these
processes are nuclei in which the more-optimal size of
the nucleus allows the nuclear force (which is opposed by
the electromagnetic force) to bind nuclear particles more
tightly together than before the reaction.
The Weak nuclear force (dierent from the strong force)
provides the potential energy for certain kinds of radioactive decay, such as beta decay.
The energy released in nuclear processes is so large that
the relativistic change in mass (after the energy has been
removed) can be as much as several parts per thousand.
Nuclear particles (nucleons) like protons and neutrons are
not destroyed (law of conservation of baryon number) in
ssion and fusion processes. A few lighter particles may
be created or destroyed (example: beta minus and beta
plus decay, or electron capture decay), but these minor
processes are not important to the immediate energy release in ssion and fusion. Rather, ssion and fusion release energy when collections of baryons become more
tightly bound, and it is the energy associated with a fraction of the mass of the nucleons (but not the whole particles) which appears as the heat and electromagnetic radiation generated by nuclear reactions. This heat and radiation retains the missing mass, but the mass is missing
only because it escapes in the form of heat or light, which
retain the mass and conduct it out of the system where it
is not measured.
The energy from the Sun, also called solar energy, is
an example of this form of energy conversion. In the
Sun, the process of hydrogen fusion converts about 4 million metric tons of solar matter per second into light,
which is radiated into space, but during this process, although protons change into neutrons, the number of total protons-plus-neutrons does not change. In this system,
the radiated light itself (as a system) retains the missing
mass, which represents 4 million tons per second of electromagnetic radiation, moving into space. Each of the helium nuclei which are formed in the process are less massive than the four protons from they were formed, but (to
a good approximation), no particles are destroyed in the
process of turning the Suns nuclear potential energy into
light. Instead, the four nucleons in a helium nucleus in

List of energy storage projects

14 References
[1] Mohr, Peter J.; Taylor, Barry N.; Newell, David B. (2008).
CODATA Recommended Values of the Fundamental
Physical Constants: 2006. Rev. Mod. Phys. 80 (2): 633
730. arXiv:0801.0028. Bibcode:2008RvMP...80..633M.
doi:10.1103/RevModPhys.80.633.
[2] Chemistry, Matter, and the Universe, R.E. Dickerson, I.
Geis, W.A. Benjamin Inc. (USA), 1976, ISBN 0-19855148-7

15

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