ENERGY

SUBMITTED BY ANKUR
What are s ome forms of

Energy?
–Potential
–Kinetic
–Mechanical
–Solar
–Light
–Heat
–Electrical
–Electromagnetic
What is Energy? What is the Law of
Conservation of Energy?
• Energy – the ability to cause a
change in matter (movement, or a
change in position)
• Law of Conservation of Energy –
energy can never be made or
destroyed, but it can change forms
The race car is moving, so it has energy.
Where does it get its energy? It can’t just
make the energy it needs. This is part of the
law of conservation of energy. The race car’s
engine changes the energy stored in
gasoline into movement. The care moves, or
changes position, because one form of
energy changes into another.
• Kinetic energy- is the energy of motion. If
something is moving it has kinetic energy.
The faster an object is moving, the more
kinetic energy it has.
An airplane flying through
the air has more kinetic
energy than a person
riding a bicycle.

DE Science Video
 What is Potential Energy?
Potential Energy
• Potential energy is the energy an object has because
of its condition or position. For example, the higher an
object is, the more potential energy it has. So a ball on
the roof of a building has more potential energy than a
ball on your desk, because it can fall farther.
• An object can have potential and kinetic energy at the
same time.
As this roller coaster car moves to the top of the hill, it
gains potential energy. The higher the car rises, the
more potential energy it has. When the car moves
down, it has kinetic energy. As it falls, its kinetic
energy increases and its potential energy decreases.
 Let’s Review:
Respond in your Science Notebook:
A car is rolling down a hill. Describe the
car’s potential and kinetic energy.
 What is Mechanical Energy?

Mechanical energy- is the combination of all the potential

and kinetic energy that something has. This is the energy
we use everyday to physically move things. When you
move your chair from one place to another you are using
mechanical energy.

This windup toy has a key attached to a spring. When

you turn the key, you wind up, or tighten, the spring,
giving the toy potential energy. The tighter it is wound
up the more potential energy it has stored. When the toy
is moving, it has kinetic energy. Since the spring is still
partly wound up, the toy also has some potential energy
left. The toy’s mechanical energy is a combination of its
potential energy and its kinetic energy.
 What is Energy
Transfer?
Energy Transfer
• Energy transfer- the movement of energy from
one place or object to another.
o A baseball player hits a ball, kinetic energy is
transferred from the bat to the ball.
o A hammer strikes a nail, kinetic energy is transferred
from the hammer to the nail. Can you think of other
examples?

The boy’s kinetic energy is transferred to the

spring, where it changes into potential
energy. As the spring expands, that potential
energy is transferred to the boy as kinetic
energy, bouncing him into the air.
 What are some other forms of Energy
(solar, light, heat, ultraviolet, chemical,
mechanical, etc.) ?
• Chemical energy- energy stored in fuel. This is energy
that can be released by a chemical reaction, such as
burning or digestion. When it is not being used, it is
potential energy. A chemical reaction is needed to change
this potential energy into kinetic energy.

Our muscles get energy from the food we eat. The

potential energy stored in food is chemical energy.
When it’s released, it gives us kinetic energy to move.

Chemical energy in fuel is used to keep this remote-controlled

helicopter flying in the air.
: What is solar Energy?
• Solar Energy- energy that comes from
the sun. The word solar means “of the
sun.” People use solar cells that change
light energy from the sun into electricity.
o Solar calculators
o Solar panels to heat swimming pools
o Solar panels that provide light and power
appliances in homes or other buildings

Without solar energy, Earth would be just a ball of frozen rock with no life.
The sun is the source of almost all energy on Earth. Light from the sun
helps plants make food and oxygen. Its energy is stored in
fossil fuels- coal, oil, and natural gas that come from long-dead plants
and animals. The sun’s energy is also the source of weather.
• Other forms of energy come from the sun
directly. Energy from the sun travels as
radiation. The sun provides different types
of radiation.
o Light, radiation we see
o Heat, radiation we feel
o X rays
o Ultraviolet rays
o Radio waves, which we
hear as static on radios
*some of these rays can be dangerous
What is Light Energy?
• Light is energy you can see. It moves in waves.
How big those waves are determines what type
and color of light it is. Those waves, however, are
so small that they appear to be straight lines. The
complicated part is that light moves in straight lines
only when it’s not moving through anything at all
(ie. in a vacuum). When it moves through air,
water, glass, or anything else, its behavior
changes.
What is Light Energy?
There are two main things that happen to change the direction of the light’s motion:

(1) Reflection- is what happens when light bounces off of

something. This is what you see when you look in the
mirror. This is also what you see when you look at
anything around you. In order to reach your eyes, light
bounces off of the object that you’re looking at, changing
its direction. It can also bounce off of particles (like water)
in the air, which is why you may be able to see beams of
sunlight on a foggy day.
(2) Refraction- is what happens when light passes from
one medium (one type of stuff) into another. When this
happens, the light will actually bend. (Actually, it usually
splits in two - some of it reflects off the surface, and some of
it keeps going through.) The light that goes through bends
at the surface. The angle that it bends at depends on what
the two mediums are. For example, light will bend a
different amount when it goes from air into glass than it
does when it goes from air into water
 What is Sound Energy?

• Sound- is energy in the form of vibrations that travel through matter.

Sound vibrations pass through the particles of matter in a kind of
domino effect. When a vibration reaches a particle of matter, that
particle starts to vibrate, too. In this way, sound vibrations can spread
out, not just in a straight line, but in all directions.
o Sound travels through air, so people can hear sounds-even quiet ones-at
a distance
o You can place your hands on a radio or TV and feel the sound vibrations.
o Some people with hearing disabilities have been able to become dancers
by feeling the vibrations of the music through their feet.
o Sometimes you can feel sound, like at a fireworks show. Many fireworks
produce not only bright colors, but also loud whistles, pops, and bangs.
You can often feel the energy of these sounds on your body.
 What is Electricity?
• Electricity, or electric energy- energy that comes
from an electric current. An electric current results
from the movement of electrons. Electrons are
particles found in atoms. You can see some effects of
electric energy when you use appliances. You may
have even felt electric energy. Have you ever walked
across a rug on a dry day and then touched a
doorknob? You probably felt electric energy in the
form of a small shock (static electricity or
electricity that is not moving).
 How is Heat Transferred?

• All matter is made up of tiny particles that are

always moving. Since they move, they have kinetic
energy, also called thermal energy.
• Heat- is the transfer of thermal energy between
objects with different temperatures.
• Thermal energy travels from a warmer object to a
cooler object.

Energy from the stove burner flows through the

pot and into the water, causing it to get hot.
Energy doesn’t travel from the low-temperature
water to the high-temperature burner.
 What is Temperature?
• Temperature- is the measurement of the average
kinetic energy of all the particles in a substance. You
can measure temperature with a thermometer. The
number shown on a thermometer is related to the
amount of kinetic energy in a substance.
• Some systems are very efficient at transferring
thermal energy. A System is a set of parts acting
together as a whole object.

A burner, a pot, and water are a system through which

Thermal energy moves. The burner transfers thermal
Energy to the pot. The pot transfers thermal energy to
The water. As the water receives more and more
Thermal energy, its particles move faster.
 What is Thermal Energy Transfer?

There are three ways heat can move through a system.

• Conduction- the transfer of thermal energy from one
object directly into another (heat from the iron moves
directly into the clothing)
• Convection- the transfer of thermal energy through the
movement of a gas or a liquid. As a gas or liquid is
heated, the heat causes it to move upward, carrying
heat to the area above the heat source (heated air
moves up, carrying thermal energy to the air above it)
• Radiation- the transfer of energy by waves that move
through matter and space. Not all radiation from the sun
reaches Earth’s surface. Some of it is reflected back into
space by the atmosphere. Reflection occurs when heat
or light bounces off an object. (Radiation carries thermal
energy from the lamp to the food)
 Directly from handle to hand
Through the movement of water

By the heat waves

emitted from the
fire