Energy Flashcards
Law of Thermodynamics
- Energy can’t be created nor destroyed but can be changed from one form to another. Energy is conserved
- All processes occur with an increase in entropy
Basic diagram of power generation
Turbine —> generator —> electricity
Non renewable energy: coal
Readily combustible, black or brownish sedimentary rock occuring in rock layers
Most abundant fossil fuel
Non renewable sources: petroleum
Naturally occurring, flammable liquid found in rock formations in the Earth
Rock oil; originates from remains of plankton
Non renewable sources: natural gas
Consists primarily of methane, emits least carbon
Cleanest of all fossil fuels
NRES cons
Contributes to urban heat and pollution
Difficult to extract
Expensive process
Environmental impacts
Non renewable sources: nuclear energy
Nuclear energy: E= mc^2
Nuclear fission: splitting
Nuclear fusion: combining
Releases large amount of energy
Renewable sources: biofuel
Fuel generated from the sugars of the plants
Yeast fermentation to produce ethanol
Renewable source: biomass
Plant materials and animal waste
Decomposing garbage produce methane
Renewable source: geothermal
Use of underground steam to run turbines of a power plant
Renewable source: hydropower
Gravitational descent of river is compressed from a long run to a single location with a dam
Renewable sources: solar power
Using photovoltaic cells to convert sunlight into electricity
Renewable sources: wind power
Uses power of wind to propel blades of wind
Renewable sources: tidal power
extracted from moon-gravity-powered tides
Kinetic energy
possessed by a system by virtue of its motion
Potential energy
stored energy
Electric current
flow of electrons
Generation of electricity
kinetic energy to electrical energy
Non renewable energy
Natural resource that can not be replaced immediately after consumption
Renewable energy
Can be replenished on human timescale and will not run out
First person to observe electrical phenomena
Thales Miletus
Discovered other materials could display attractive properties of amber
William gilbert
What is energy
capacity to do work, vital resource for all life forms
Coined the term “electric object”
Thomas Browne
Who discovered two distinct groups of electrics
Charles Du Fay
who proposed that electrical fluid was common to all things
Benjamin Franklin
static electricity
electrons move from negatively charged to positively charged object
Who discovered electric fluid is made of small particles
J. Thompson
Who named the small particles ‘electrons’ in electrical fluid?
George Stoney
Conventional current
Electrons flow upstream, opposite of conventional current
How does generator produce electricity?
moving magnet around coils of metal wire
