- There are two main categories of energy:
- Kinetic= energy of motion ......This energy is doing work
- Potential= energy that is stored......This energy could do work but isn't doing work yet.
- Thermal = energy of heat (kinetic)
- Nuclear = energy stored in atoms like in the sun (potential)
- Chemical = energy stored in chemical bonds like inside a battery or in a plant (potential)
- Sound = energy of sound waves (kinetic)
- Electrical = energy of moving electrons like through the wires in a flashlight (kinetic)
- Stored Mechanical = energy that is stored because of applying a force like a spring or rubber-band stretched out before you release them (potential)
- Motion/Mechanical = energy of things that are moving (kinetic)
- Electromagnetic/Radiant = energy in electromagnetic waves like sunlight, radio waves, and coming from lightbulbs (kinetic)
- Energy can not be created or destroyed, you can only change the version of the energy. This law is called the law of conservation of energy….we can only convert energy into another form.
- Heat energy or thermal energy can only move from warmer objects towards cooler objects
- Heat energy moves in one of three ways:
- Conduction: heat moving through objects because they are touching each other
Exe. A handle on a pot gets hot even though it is not touching the burner, heat is transferred through the pot. - Convection: heat transferred by the movement of currents in a fluid like water or air
Exe. Hot water in a pot rises to the top and the cold water flows to the bottom. This also occurs in a room heated with hot water pipes (like our class). The pipes heat up the air near them, it rises to the top of the room, and the cool air is pushed to the floor (where it is heated and rises). - Radiation: heat transferred by waves of heat energy
Exe. When you step outside on a sunny day you feel heat from the sun even though you are not touching the sun. This is radiation. The same thing happens when your hand is near the stove and you feel heat.