Energy

part I
 energy
energy

Captain! Our ship is energy

running out of energy!

energy
energy
Energy is something like money

…and uncle Scrooge

surely has a lot of
both!
Money is something you spend to get
things, or get some work done

energy
work
Let’s look at a few examples!
Example 1: a freight train

It spends its energy

to do the work: to
transport some
cargo against the
force of friction

Energy spent = work done

Example 2: a hair-dryer

What kind of work does it do?

Example 2: a hair-dryer

It spends the
energy to heat up
the air and move it
against the force of
air resistance
Example 3: the trebuchet

What kind of work does it do?

Example 3: the trebuchet
It spends energy to do the
work against the force of
gravity

Or, in simpler words: to

throw huge and heavy
boulders very far away…
Can I measure energy?
This man can help us!

His name was James Joule

And we call a unit of energy

A Joule!

1J
So, what’s the difference?
Well…

There is a way to create

more money: to print some
bills, or to mint some coins
By the way!
This is an old press that was
used to mint coins

Can you explain how does it

work?

You should say 2 things:

- Where does it take the
energy from?
- What forces does it work
against?
But let’s get back…
Main thing about energy:
you can’t create it or destroy it
Universe is made of pipes

The only thing you can do

with energy, you can reroute
it from one object to the
other, like the water in this
pipe system

But some part of it is always

lost on the way!
Not perfect: Sankey diagram

Useful 10 J: light

Total energy:
100 J Wasted 90 J: heat
Is it, like, good at all?

For any machine or mechanism you build

you have to know how efficient it is:
Efficiency: Sankey diagram

Useful 10 J: light

Total
energy: Wasted 90 J: heat
100 J
Let’s play a guessing game!
Guess #1:
Steam engine locomotive

How efficient is
that?
Guess #1:
Steam engine locomotive
Not much:

6%

Every 94 dollars
out of 100 are just
wasted
Guess #2:
Gasoline car

How efficient is
that?
Guess #2:
Gasoline car

Better!

25%-50%
Guess #3:
Fossil fuel power plant

How efficient is
that?
Guess #3:
Fossil fuel power plant

Wait, what?

Only 40%?!
Spoiler: fossil fuels aren’t good
What we’ve learned today?
Some stuff about energy!

• Energy is the thing you have to spend in order to do some work:

move stuff, break stuff, make stuff
• You can’t create or destroy energy, only give or take it
• In every mechanism some energy is always wasted,
so perpetual motion machines are impossible 
• To calculate a machine’s efficiency use this formula:
Car Engine!
•
What is this picture called?

*(not this one)

What can we calculate using the Sankey
diagram?

Useful 10 J: light

Total energy:
100 J Wasted 90 J: heat
formula efficiency
=
 work

𝐴=𝐹×𝑑
How many types of energy are there?
Kinetic energy
It’s the energy of a
moving object
The heavier and
the faster the
object is – the more
kinetic energy it has
Gravitational potential energy
It’s the energy of a an
object lifted above the
ground
The heavier object is
and the higher it stays –
the more gravitational
potential energy it has
Example:
our old friend trebuchet
Gravitational potential energy

Height!
Speed!

Mass!
Elastic potential energy
It’s the energy of a
stretched or
compressed elastic
object!
The more you stretch
something, and the
stiffer it is – the more
elastic potential energy
you’ll store
Sound energy

It’s the energy of the

sound! Easy as that :)
The louder it is, and
the higher the pitch
– the more sound
energy you get
(and the more your ears hurt)
Example:
a crashing piano

Speed!

Height!

And that’s your sound energy!

Light energy
It’s the energy of the
radiation! Easy as that
:)
Visible light is just one
example, but there’s
also UV, IR, X-ray,
gamma-rays and a lot
of other stuff
Heat thermal energy
The hotter something is,
the more heat it can pass
to other objects
But mind the difference:
temperature shows you
how hot or cold
something is
heat is something you
can pass to other things
to increase their
temperature
 Example:
steam engine

ENERGY B

ENERGY A
Chemical energy

It’s the energy that sits

inside every substance

Burning fuel or
digesting food is the
way to extract
chemical energy and
use it for something
else!
Electric energy

It’s the energy that is

carried by electrical
current

This type of energy

allows us to power all
kinds of devices
Example:
a smartphone
Final 8:
 Gravitational potential energy  Kinetic energy

 Elastic potential energy  Sound energy

 Chemical energy  Light energy

 Heat (thermal energy)  Electric energy

Work in teams

 Create a device where

energy changes it’s type as
many times as possible
 As always: draw a pretty
picture of your device!