Unit 9 Flashcards
What is energy?
A measurement of an object’s capacity to change things around it.
It is the ability to exert a force on an object while it moves through some distance in the direction of the applied force.
What is the property of energy associated with?
Force and an object’s position or motion
How many general types of energy are tehre?
Two
What are the two general types of energy?
- Potential energy
- Kinetic energy
What is potential energy?
Energy that depends on the position of an object or the positions of its parts.
What is kinetic energy?
Energy that depends on an object’s motion
What are potential and kinetic energy broken down into?
Mechanical or internal energy
What’s another name for mechanical energy?
Macroscopic (objects we can see, not atoms or molecules)
What’s another name for internal energy?
Microscopic (atoms and molecules)
What is mechanical energy?
A name given to the kinetic or potential energy of LARGE macroscopic objects
What is internal energy?
A name given to energy hidden within matter, but manifest by the object’s temperature, shape, physical state (gas, solid, liquid), the chemical composition, etc.
What are the two units of measurement?
Joule
or kWh (kilowatt hour)
What is the formula for kinetic energy at low speeds?
Kinetic energy = 1/2mass x speed^2
What two things does kinetic energy depend on?
Mass and speed
True or False: Kinetic energy of an object can have an absolute value.
False.
Because it depends on speed, which is relative.
What is gravitational potential energy?
The energy stored in an object that has the potential to fall.
Near the surface of Earth:
GPE = weight x height
True or False: Gravitational potential energy is relative.
True, because it depends on height, which is relative
True or False: The gravitational force between two objects decreases with distance, but the gravitational potential energy increases with distance.
TRUE
Why does GPE increase with distance?
Because the farther apart objects are, the faster they will move when they come back together and the more kinetic energy they will gain
Why are asteroids and comets so dangerous?
Because they gain energy - and therefore greater destructive power - by falling from long distances (through the earth’s atmosphere)
What is electrical potential energy?
Greater charge creates more electrical potential energy.
The EPE for opposite charges is the greatest when the charges are far apart.
EPE for the same charge (+ or -) decreases as the charges become farther apart, and is strongest when they are close together.
What does “work” mean in science?
Refers to energy transferred as an object is moved in the direction of an applied force.
It is a process of transferring or transforming energy.
What is the formula for work?
Work = force x distance parallel to the direction of the force
True or False: A student does “work” to a 70lb backpack while walking to class.
FALSE
The force is perpendicular (force up on backpack, walking horizontally)
How could a student do work to a backpack?
Change its speed or change its height
True or False: Work is a form of energy
False
What is the process that describes potential energy turning into kinetic energy?
Work
What is thermal energy?
Total kinetic energy of random motion of molecules in a material.
What type of energy depends on the positions and motions of the atoms and molecules that make up objects, rather than the position or motion of the entire object?
Internal energy