ENERGY RESOURCES AND ENERGY TRANSFERS Flashcards
What is energy?
-Energy is a fundamental property of the Universe
- It is measured in JOULES (J)
- It exists everywhere and cannot be created or destroyed – The Principle of the Conservation of Energy
- We cannot always see energy, but we see its effects
- Energy has the ability to make things happen (do work)
- Energy can be STORED or TRANSFERRED
- Energy is just energy – but we think of it as existing as different ENERGY STORES and transferred through ENERGY PATHWAYS
Energy stores?
- Gravitational potential
- Elastic potential
- Electrostatic
- Chemical
- Nuclear
- Thermal
- Magnetic
- Kinetic
Energy pathways?
- By heating (conduction & convection)
- By radiation (e.g, EM radiation like light, infrared ect)
- Mechanically
- Chemically
- Electrically
Where do we find chemical energy stores?
- food
- fuels
- batteries
Where do we find kinetic energy stores?
-in a moving object
Where do we find gravitational energy stores?
-more in an object lifted upwards
Where do we find elastic energy stores?
-in a stretched, squashed or twisted object
Where do we find thermal energy stores?
-more in an object at a higher temperature
Where do we find magnetic energy stores?
-in magnetic forces between magnetic poles
Where do we find electrostatic energy stores?
-in electrical forces between charges
Where do we find nuclear energy stores?
-in the strong forces within the atomic nucleus
How do mechanically energy pathways work?
-when physical forces act and something moves
How does electrically energy pathways work?
-when an electric current flows
How do by heating energy pathways work?
-when there is a temperature difference
How do by radiation energy pathways work?
-when EM waves travel (including sound waves)
How do chemically energy pathways work?
-when a chemical reaction happens?
The principle of conservation of energy?
• In a closed system energy cannot be created or
destroyed.
• Energy is transferred to different energy stores – it
can’t just disappear or be made from nothing!
• If we think energy is being ‘lost’ it is either being transferred and stored elsewhere or dissipated (spread out to the surroundings)
• The total energy of a closed system is ALWAYS the same, before and after, any energy transfers
—Total Input Energy = Total Output Energy
Useful and wasted energy?
-when energy is supplied to a device (input) it ca. Be transferred (output) into:
- useful energy (the energy store you want)
- wasted energy (the energy store you dont want)
-a device is more efficient if it transfers more input energy into useful output energy (with less wasted)
Efficiency equation?
Efficiency = useful energy output
—————— X 100%
total energy input
What can sankey diagrams be used for?
- to show energy transfers, as well as confirm that the total input energy = total output energy
- you can have more than one useful or wasted energy
- they show efficiency
How to read sankey diagrams?
-wasted energy is often in the hall form of unwanted thermal or sound and dissipates into the surroundings