SCNC1112

Unifying Principles and Concepts

of Science (II):

Energy and Heat

 The One Idea:
All living things survive by converting energy
from one form to another.
 Summary of this lecture
• Describing change: work, energy, power
• Energy comes in many different forms, and it measures
the ability to do work
• Heat is a form of thermal energy: meaning of temperature
• Comparison of energy: Concept of energy appears in all
branches of science, sometimes in different units
• Interchangeability of energy: underlying principle behind
many processes of science
• Energy of life: the food chain can be viewed from the
perspective of energy conversion
Many of these topics will be revisited
again in later parts of the course
 Work and Energy
• Work* (W) is done when a force is exerted over a distance.
• Definition: W = F × d, where F is the force component
along the direction of motion and d is the distance the force
is exerted
• Unit of work: Joules (J), where 1 J = 1 N x 1 m
• Consider the following two scenarios:
– Lift a ping pong ball from the table to above your head √
– Push very hard on the wall, but not able to move it ×
• While you would feel tired only in the latter cases, work is
done only in the former case.
• The scientific definition of work* is different from (though
similar to) the daily usage of the word “work”
 Energy and Power
• How can we describe this ability to produce change?
• Energy* (E) is defined as the ability to do work (e.g. push,
pull, lift).
• Unit of energy: Joules (J), where 1 J = 1 N x 1 m
• Power* (P) provides a measure of both the amount of work
done and the time it takes to do the work.
• Definition: P = E / t , when energy E is used over a
timespan t.
• Unit of power: Watt (W), where 1 W = 1 J / 1 sec
• A blow-dryer rated at 2000 W consumes twice as much
energy as another one rated at 1000 W (though that might
or might not mean that the energy output also doubles!)
Summary of important terms
 Forms of energy
• Energy, the ability to do work, appears in all natural
systems, and it comes in many forms.
• Kinetic energy KE measures the energy of objects in
motion (½ mv2)
• Potential energy PE measures the energy stored (in
various forms) which could be released to do work but
is not doing so now (and might not in the future…)
– E.g., Gravitational Potential Energy (GPE): for a mass
m at a height h above the ground, its gravitational PE
will have a value mgh higher than when it is on the
ground (g is the acceleration due to gravity)
 Forms of energy
• Other forms of potential energy apart from GPE:
– Chemical energy: stored in chemical bonds between atoms
– Electric energy: stored in configuration of electric charges
– Magnetic energy: stored in magnetic materials or systems of moving
charges (electric currents)
– Elastic potential energy: stored in a stretched spring or string
 Forms of energy
• Energy, the ability to do work, appears in all natural
systems, and it comes in many forms.
• Kinetic energy KE measures the energy of objects in
motion (½ mv2)
• Potential energy PE measures the energy stored (in
various forms) which could be released to do work but
is not doing so now (and might not in the future…)
– E.g., Gravitational Potential Energy (GPE): for a mass
m at a height h above the ground, its gravitational PE
will have a value mgh higher than when it is on the
ground (g is the acceleration due to gravity)
• Thermal energy, commonly referred to as heat or
heat energy
 Heat as a Form of Energy
• James Joules (1818-1889)
performed an experiment which
showed that the gravitational
potential energy of the weights
directly affects how much the water
would be heated up.
• He successfully demonstrated that
gravitational potential energy can
be converted into heat.
• Heat is just another form of
energy.
Gravitational PE of weights converts
Model of Joules’ equipment:
into KE of paddle, which then
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PThq transfers to KE of water molecules,
8fJpCLw causing a rise in water temperature.
 Heat and thermal energy
• The key to understanding the nature of heat is that all atoms and
molecules are in constant random motion (kinetic theory of gas).
• These atoms and molecules thus carry kinetic energy; the higher
the temperature, the more kinetic energy they carry on average.
• Thermal energy, or heat, is therefore the random kinetic energy
of atoms and molecules.
• Temperature is a measure of the average kinetic energy of the
materials (scientific usage the same as the daily usage).

Cold air Warm air

 Heat and Temperature
• Two objects are defined to be at the same temperature if no
heat flows spontaneously* from one to the other. (Zeroth Law
of Thermodynamics)
• ALERT! The word spontaneous* here does not have
anything to do with the speed of flow (different from daily use)
• The word spontaneous here sort of means “natural” ― it refers
to the tendency for a change to occurs (Scientifically it means
not needing to be driven by doing work of any kind)
• In fact, although some spontaneous processes are fast (e.g.,
free expansion of a gas into vacuum), some may be
enormously slow (e.g., conversion of diamond to graphite)
[more on these later in the next Module]
 Scales of temperature
• Two objects are defined to be at the same temperature if no
heat flows spontaneously from one to the other.
• Celsius scale of temperature (˚C) : Historically 0˚C and 100˚C
refer to the freezing and boiling point of water
• SI unit: Kelvin (K) K = oC + 273.15, defined with the absolute
zero (0 K) and the triple point of water (273.16 K)
• Absolute zero: the coldest attainable temperature, where it
was impossible to extract any heat energy from the molecules.

There is no negative temperature!

 Units of energy
• While the SI unit of energy is Joules, there are other energy
units in use in different branches of science and technology.

• Electric power, battery: Recall E = P × t, a commonly quoted

unit is kilowatt-hour (kWh).= 103W x 3600sec = 3.6MJ
– Question: what is the electric power used in your family
household last month? (Find the answer from the electric bill!).
• Energy of the subatomic world: common unit is electron-Volt
(eV), the energy of an electron gained from an electric
potential of 1 Volt (1 eV = 1.6 x 10-19 J).

• Nutrition: the unit used is food calorie, or kilocalorie (kcal,

which is the unit shown on the food label). 1 kcal = 4182 J, or
the amount of energy needed to raise the temperature of 1 kg
of water by 1oC on sea level.
 Comparison of energy
• Key lesson: Various phenomena in nature cover a wide range
of energy can be compared.
• Question: Do you take in more energy as food, or consume
more energy from electricity every day?
• Food intake per person per year:
– 1500-2000 kcal x 365 = (2 – 3) x 109 J
• Hong Kong electric usage per person per year:

6000 kWh
= 2.1 x 1010J
 Forms of energy
• Wave: a means to transport energy from one place to
another without the transport of materials.
• Mechanical wave (water wave, sound wave, seismic wave)
carries energy through motion of the transporting medium.
• Electromagnetic wave (light) carries electric and
magnetic energy (transporting medium NOT required)
Mass is also a form of
energy! E=mc2

(mgh) (½mv2)
(proportional to T)

Just for fun: Energy stored in 1g of mass,

if fully released E = mc2 = 9 x 1013 J
The Interchangeability of Energy
The many different forms of energy are interchangeable.
Energy in one form can be converted into any other form.

• A fundamental property of the universe

• Underlying principle behind many processes of science
 Example:
Bungee
The higher one
is above ground,
jumping
the higher the
gravitational PE
The majority
of the initial
energy is
converted to
heat energy at
the end.

(b) Lost gravitational PE converted to the KE of

the jumper, elastic cord not stretched.
(c) Jumper at lowest position, elastic cord fully
stretched.
(d) After the bounces die out, the cord heats up,
your ankle heats up, air got pushes aside, …
Question:

Can you fill out what types of interchanging energy

were involved in getting to the top of the cliff if

(a)The jumper climb up there by himself?

(b)The driver drive a car up there?
 The Energy of Life:
Food Chain
• Food chain as a way to track the energy as it flows through
many living systems on Earth.

Herbivores eating organisms

Plant eating organisms

• Question: Why are there so much more herbivores in number

(e.g., cows, insects,) than carnivores (e.g., eagles, lions)?
• Efficiency of organism converting energy from the lower trophic
level to build up their own body (in forms of chemical
energy) is quite low in general (< 10%).
• Therefore we expect there should be at least 10 herbivores to
support a carnivore. Read the textbook on how this is related to the different
types of dinosaur fossils discovered
 The One Idea:
All living things survive by converting energy
from one form to another.