Energy Stores & Transfers

 Energy can be stored in different ways, and there are changes in the way it is
stored when a system changes

 There are many different ways that energy can be stored, these are shown in the
table below:

Types of Energy Stores Table

 A system can change between stores through different energy transfer

mechanisms
 Examples of these are:
o Mechanical
o Electrical
o Heating
o Radiation
 These are described in the table below:
 Types of Energy Transfers Table

 An example of a thermal energy transfer is a hot coffee heating up cold hands

Thermal energy is transferred from the hot coffee to the mug and to the cold
hands
Conservation of Energy
 The principle of conservation of energy states that:

Energy cannot be created or destroyed, it can only be transferred from one store
to another

 This means the total amount of energy in a closed system remains constant but
can change where, and how, it is stored
 Energy can therefore not necessarily be 'lost', but just transferred into wasted
energy (often heat)
 Conservation of energy applies to all energy systems

Example 1: A Television

 The energy changes in televisions are:

electrical energy ➝ light energy + sound energy + thermal energy

 Light and sound energy are useful energy transfers whereas thermal energy
(from the heating up of wires) is wasted

Useful and wasted energy conversions for a television

Example 2: Heaters

 The energy changes in an electrical heater:

electrical energy ➝ thermal energy + sound energy + light energy

 In a gas cooker, the energy transfers are similar but the initial source of energy
is different:
 chemical energy ➝ thermal energy + sound energy + light energy

 In both these cases, thermal energy is useful, whereas sound and light are not

Useful and wasted energy conversions in an electric heater and gas cooker

Example 3: Rollercoasters

 A rollercoaster increases its speed as it travels down a steep section of track and
gains kinetic energy (KE)
 When the rollercoaster travels up a steep section of track, this kinetic energy is
transferred into gravitational potential energy (GPE)
 These energy changes happen several times during a rollercoaster ride as the
track goes up and down and around

 As the rollercoaster in the diagram travels from A to D, the energy changes that
take place are:
 GPE ➝ KE ➝ GPE ➝ KE

 Some energy is transferred to the surroundings as heat and sound energy too
 At point A:
o The rollercoaster is raised above the ground, therefore it has GPE
o As it travels down the track, GPE is converted to KE and the roller coaster
speeds up
 At point B:
o KE is converted to GPE as the rollercoaster rises up the loop
 At point C:
o This GPE is converted back into KE as the rollercoaster travels back down
the loop
 At point D:
o The flat track means the rollercoaster only has KE

Example 4: Trampoline

 When jumping on a trampoline the energy changes are:

elastic potential energy ➝ kinetic energy ➝ gravitational potential energy

 Some energy is transferred to the surroundings as heat and sound energy too

Energy conversions for someone jumping on a trampoline

Efficiency
 The efficiency of a system is a measure of how well energy is transferred in a
system
 Efficiency is defined as:

The ratio of the useful energy transferred by the device to the total energy
supplied to the device

 If a system has high efficiency, this means most of the energy transferred
is useful
 If a system has low efficiency, this means most of the energy transferred
is wasted
 Determining which type of energy is useful or wasted depends on the system
o When electrical energy is converted to light in a lightbulb, the light energy
is useful and the heat energy produced is wasted
o When electrical energy is converted to heat for a heater, the heat energy
is useful and the sound energy produced is wasted

 Remember that conversation of energy still applies, so the total energy supplied
goes to both the useful and wasted energy transferred

 Efficiency is represented as a percentage, and can be calculated using the

equation:

 The energy can be of any form e.g. gravitational potential energy, kinetic energy

Sankey Diagrams
 Diagrams are used to represent energy transfers
o These are sometimes called Sankey diagrams
 The arrow in a Sankey diagram represents the transfer of energy:
o The end of the arrow pointing to the right represents the energy that ends
up in the desired store (the useful energy output)
o The end that points down represents the wasted energy
 The width of each arrow is proportional to the amount of energy going to each
store
 As a result of the conversation of energy:

Total energy in = Useful energy out + Wasted energy

Total energy in, wasted energy and useful energy out shown on a Sankey diagram

 A Sankey diagram for a modern efficient light bulb will look very different from
that for an old filament light bulb
 A more efficient light bulb has less wasted energy
o This is shown by the smaller arrow downwards representing the heat
energy

Sankey diagram for modern vs. old filament light bulb

Conduction
 Thermal energy transfers from hotter areas to cooler areas by the processes of:
 o Conduction
o Convection
o Radiation

 Objects will always lose heat until they are in thermal equilibrium (same
temperature) with their surroundings
o For example, a mug of hot tea will cool down until it reaches room
temperature

 Conduction is the main method of thermal energy transfer in solids

o Metals are extremely good at conducting heat
 Non-metals are poor at conducting heat whilst liquids and gases are extremely
poor
o Poor conductors are called insulators
 Materials containing small pockets of trapped air are especially good at
insulating, as air is a gas and hence a poor conductor
 Conduction: the atoms in a solid vibrate and bump into each other

 When a substance is heated, the atoms start to move around (vibrate) more
o As they do so they bump into each other, transferring energy from atom
to atom
 Metals are especially good at conducting heat as the delocalised electrons can
collide with the atoms, helping to transfer the vibrations through the material and
hence transfer heat better
Convection
 Convection is the main way that heat travels through liquids and gases
o Convection cannot occur in solids
 When a fluid (a liquid or a gas) is heated:
o The molecules push each other apart, making the fluid expand
o This makes the hot fluid less dense than the surroundings
o The hot fluid rises, and the cooler (surrounding) fluid moves in to take its
place
o Eventually, the hot fluid cools, contracts and sinks back down again
o The resulting motion is called a convection current

A convection current caused by the heat transfer from the fire

Thermal Radiation
 All bodies (objects), no matter what temperature, emit a spectrum of thermal
radiation in the form of electromagnetic waves
o Thermal radiation is heat transfer by infrared (part of the electromagnetic
spectrum)
 The hotter object, the more infrared radiation it radiates in a given time

The infrared emitted from a hot object can be detected using a special camera

 The colour of an object affects how well it emits and absorbs thermal radiation
o Black objects are the best at emitting and absorbing thermal radiation
o Shiny objects are the worst at emitting and absorbing thermal radiation

 The table below summarises the absorbing and emitting abilities of different
colours:

Absorbing and Emitting of Difference Colours Table

Core Practical 8: Investigating Thermal Energy
Equipment List
  Resolution of measuring equipment:
o Thermometer = 1°C
o Stopwatch = 0.01 s

Experiment 1: Investigating Conduction

Aim of the Experiment

 The aim of the experiment is to investigate the rate of conduction in four different
metals

Variables:

 Independent variable = Type of metal

 Dependent variable = Rate of conduction
 Control variables:
o Size and thickness of metal strips
o Amount of wax used
o Identical ball bearings

Method
The above apparatus consists of 4 different metal strips of equal width and length
arrange around an insulated circle

1. Attach ball bearings to the ends of each metal strip at an equal distance from the
centre, using a small amount of wax
2. The strips should then be turned upside down and the centre heated gently using
a bunsen burner so that each of the strips is heated at the central point where
they meet
3. When the heat is conducted along to the ball bearing, the wax will melt and the
ball bearing will drop
4. Time how long this takes for each of the strips and record in a table
5. Repeat the experiment and calculate an average of each time

Analysis of Results

 Order the metals according to their conductivity

o The first ball bearing to fall will be from the rod that is the best conductor
 This is because materials with high thermal conductivity heat up faster than
materials with low thermal conductivity
 Examples of materials with high and low thermal conductivity

 The results should show the conductivity ranked from highest to lowest is:
o Copper (fastest time for ball bearing to fall)
o Aluminium
o Brass
o Iron (slowest time for ball bearing to fall)

Experiment 2: Investigating Convection

Aims of the Experiment

 The aim of the experiment is to investigate the rate of convection of potassium

permanganate crystals in two different temperatures of water

Variables:

 Independent variable = Temperature of water

 Dependent variable = Rate of convection
 Control variables:
o Amount of water in beaker
o Size of bunsen burner flame
o Size of potassium permanganate crystal

Method
 Apparatus used to investigate potassium permanganate crystals undergoing
convection in water

1. Fill the beaker with cold water (not too full) and place it on top of a tripod and
heatproof mat
2. Pick up the crystal using forceps and drop it into the centre of the beaker – do
this carefully to ensure the crystal does not dissolve prematurely
3. Heat the beaker using the Bunsen burner and record observations
4. Repeat experiment with hot water and record observations

Analysis of Results
  Heat is initially transferred through the glass wall of the beaker by conduction
 The water in the region of the Bunsen flame is heated and expands,
becomes less dense and rises
o This causes the dissolved purple crystal to flow up with the water
 Meanwhile, when the water at the top of the beaker cools, it
becomes denser again and falls
 The process continues which leads to a convection current where heat is
transferred through the liquid
o The dissolved purple crystal follows this current which is what is observed
during this experiment

 It should be observed that the convection current is faster in hot water

o This is because the higher the temperature, the higher the kinetic
energy of the water molecules
 Therefore, in hot water, the molecules of potassium permanganate move around
the beaker faster

Experiment 3: Investigating Radiation

Aims of the Experiment

The aim of the experiment is to investigate how the amount of infrared radiation
absorbed or radiated by a surface depends on the nature of that surfaceVariables:

 Independent variable = Colour

 Dependent variable = Temperature
 Control variables:
o Identical flasks (except for their colour)
o Same amounts of hot water
o Same starting temperature of the water
o Same time interval

Method
 Different coloured beakers for investigating infrared radiation apparatus

1. Set up the four identical flasks painted black, grey, white and silver
2. Fill the flasks with hot water, ensuring the measurements start from the same
initial temperature
3. Note the starting temperature, then measure the temperatures at regular intervals
e.g. every 30 seconds for 10 minutes

 An example table of results might look like this:

Analysis of Results

 All warm objects emit thermal radiation in the form of infrared waves
 The intensity (and wavelength) of the emitted radiation depends on:
o The temperature of the body (hotter objects emit more thermal radiation)
o The surface area of the body (a larger surface area allows more radiation
to be emitted)
o The colour of the surface

 Most of the heat lost from the beakers will be due to conduction and convection
o This will be the same for each beaker, as colour does not affect heat loss
in this way
 Any difference in heat loss between the beakers must, therefore, be due to
infrared (thermal) radiation
 To compare the rate of heat loss of each flask, plot a graph of temperature on
the y-axis against time on the x-axis and draw curves of best fit

 The expected results are shown on the graph below:

 Example graph and table of the expected results for the different coloured
beakers

Evaluating the Experiments

Systematic Errors:

 For experiment 1:
o Allow the rods to cool to room temperature before heating so that they all
begin at the same temperature
 For experiment 3:
o Make sure the starting temperature of the water is the same for each
material since this will cool very quickly
o It is best to do this experiment in pairs to coordinate starting the stopwatch
and immersing the thermometer
o Use a data logger connected to a digital thermometer to get more
accurate readings

Random Errors:

 For experiment 1:
o Avoid handling the rods and the wax too much before heating
 For experiment 3:
o Make sure the hole for the thermometer isn’t too big, otherwise the heat
will escape through the hole
o Take repeated readings for each coloured flask
o Read the values on the thermometer at eye level, to avoid parallax error

Safety Considerations

 Safety goggles should be worn when using a Bunsen burner

 Ensure the safety (orange) flame is on when the Bunsen burner is not heating
anything
 Potassium permanganate in its solid form is an oxidiser, harmful if swallowed and
harmful to aquatic life
 Keep water away from all electrical equipment
 Make sure not to touch the hot water directly
o Run any burns immediately under cold running water for at least 5 minutes
 Do not overfill the kettle
 Make sure all the equipment is in the middle of the desk, and not at the end to
avoid knocking over the beakers
 Carry out the experiments only whilst standing, in order to react quickly to any
spills or burns
Reducing Energy Loss
 Energy loss can be reduced by doing one of two things:
o By reducing the amount of unwanted (wasted) energy that is produced
o By preventing the energy from dissipating (if, for example, it has been
produced deliberately)

Insulation

 In many situations, the heat that is produced is wanted. For example:

o When heating a home
o When boiling a kettle
 If this heat can be prevented from dissipating, then less thermal energy will be
needed to replace the heat that has been lost
o This can be achieved by surrounding the appliance with insulation
 The effectiveness of insulation depends upon:
o How well the insulation conducts heat
o How thick the insulation is

 Insulating the loft of a house lowers its rate of cooling, meaning less heat is lost
to the outside
 The insulation is often made from fibreglass (or glass fibre)
o This is a reinforced plastic material composed of woven material with
glass fibres laid across and held together
o The air trapped between the fibres makes it a good insulator
 It has a much lower thermal conductivity than the roof material
 Several layers of insulation make it very thick and therefore decrease the rate of
cooling

Less heat is lost from a building with the help of insulation (filled cavity in walls)
 Another aspect that affects the rate of energy lost as heat is through the walls
 Houses in cold countries are fitted with cavity wall insulation which is made
from blown mineral fibre filled with gas
o This lowers the conduction of heat through the walls from the inside to the
outside