P1: Energy

Question 1

List some of the types of energy stores.

Answer 1

Kinetic, chemical, electrostatic, elastic potential, gravitational potential, nuclear, magnetic, thermal.

Question 2

What does “doing work” mean?

Answer 2

Energy is being transferred

Question 3

What is dissipation?

Answer 3

A term to describe ways in which energy is wasted.

Question 4

What means energy is wasted?

Answer 4

If it is not usefully transferred

Question 5

What are the three things that energy can do?

Answer 5

Be transferred usefully, stored or dissipated.

Question 6

What are the two things that energy cannot do?

Answer 6

Be created or destroyed.

Question 7

What are the two things that the amount of work done when a force acts on a body depends on?

Answer 7

-The size of the force acting on the object,
-The distance through which the force causes the body to move in the direction of the force.

Question 8

What is the equation for work done?

Answer 8

Work done = force x distance

Question 9

What is efficiency?

Answer 9

How good a device is at transferring energy input into useful energy output.

Question 10

What is the highest possible efficiency something can have?

Answer 10

99.9999999…%

Question 11

What is a conductor?

Answer 11

A material that allows internal energy to be transmitted through it easily.

Question 12

What makes metal a good conductor?

Answer 12

Ions in the solid metal are close together.
Increase in temperature causes an increased vibration, meaning the ions collide with neighbours more frequently.
Energy is passed on by these collisions, transferring it.
More frequent collisions increase the rate of transfer.

Question 13

What is an insulator?

Answer 13

A material that will not allow the easy flow of energy.

Question 14

What is specific heat capacity?

Answer 14

The amount of energy is takes to raise the temperature of 1kg of something by 1°C

Question 15

What is the name for systems that can store large amount of energy?

Answer 15

Energy resources.

Question 16

What are the five things that energy is needed in?

Answer 16

Homes, public services, factories, farms, transport.

Question 17

What is a renewable energy resource?

Answer 17

One that can be replenished as it is used.

Question 18

What is biofuel energy?

Answer 18

Burning wood, plants or animal waste for fuel.

Question 19

What is wind energy?

Answer 19

Using the wind at sea or on land to drive turbines, which generate electricity.

Question 20

What is tidal energy?

Answer 20

Using the changing sea levels to drive electricity-generating turbines inside dams.

Question 21

What is water wave energy?

Answer 21

Wind causes waves, which drive electricity-generating turbines.

Question 22

What is hydroelectricity?

Answer 22

Using the energy of falling water to drive turbines inside dams, which generate electricity.

Question 23

What is geothermal energy?

Answer 23

Heat from deep in the Earth’s crust turns water into steam, which drives turbines that generate electricity.

Question 24

What is solar energy?

Answer 24

Solar panels convert sunlight into electricity. Sunlight can also be used to directly heat water.

Question 25

Give two examples of non-renewable energy resources.

Answer 25

Fossil fuels and nuclear fuels.

Question 26

Why are fossil fuels a reliable source of energy?

Answer 26

Because they can generate a lot of electricity and can be burned at any time.

Question 27

Why are solar energy and wind energy not reliable?

Answer 27

Because they rely on the weather, which is unreliable.

Question 28

What is the problem with nuclear fuel?

Answer 28

It produces radioactive waste, which needs to be carefully stored and can remain hazardous for thousands of years.

Question 29

What are the disadvantages of fossil fuels?

Answer 29

They damage the environment:
-They produce carbon dioxide when burned, which contributes to climate change,
-Burning coal and oil releases sulfur dioxide, which causes acid rain.

Question 30

What is the problem with hydroelectric dams?

Answer 30

They need large areas of land to be flooded, which means that natural habitats are destroyed.

Question 31

What is the problem with wind and solar farms?

Answer 31

They need large areas of land, and contribute to visual pollution

Question 32

How can biofuels be carbon neutral?

Answer 32

If as many plants are grown as are burned for fuel.

Question 33

Give some examples of renewable energy resources.

Answer 33

Wind energy, wave energy, tidal energy, geothermal energy, hydroelectric energy, biofuel, solar energy.