1. Topic: Energy Transformations

2. Essential Question: Describe the transformation of energy from one form to another.

3. Energy is the ability to do work or cause change
Mechanical energy: the sum of potential and kinetic energy of an object
Potential energy: energy that results from the position or shape of an object

4. Forms of Potential energy:
Nuclear – stored in the nucleus of an atom (sun’s energy)
Chemical – potential energy stored in chemical bonds; when the bonds are broken the energy is released (food)

5. Kinetic energy: energy that results from the motion of an object

6. Forms of Kinetic Energy:
Thermal – the energy related to the temperature of a substance
Electrical – energy of electrical charges (batteries, electrical lines)
Light – energy carried by light and other kinds of electromagnetic waves
Sound – energy carried by sound waves

7. Energy transformation – change from one form of energy into another
Energy transfer – energy moves from one object to another object

8. Examples of single transformations:
Chemical energy in food to mechanical energy to move the muscles in your body
Chemical energy in food to thermal energy for your body to maintain its temperature

9. Examples of multiple transformations:
Car engine: electrical energy produces a spark, thermal energy from the spark releases chemical energy in the fuel, chemical energy in fuel into mechanical energy to cause wheels to turn

10. Power Plants: chemical energy released from the coal to thermal energy to change water to steam, thermal energy to mechanical energy to cause turbines to spin, mechanical energy to electrical energy

11. Law of Conservation of Energy – scientific principle that energy is neither lost nor created during a transformation; it is only changed from one form to another