Year 10 – Chapter 6 – Energy, Work & Power

Energy Transfers & Efficiency

Name: ____________________ Class: ______________ Date: _______________
1. State the energy transfers involved in these situations.

Example: Chemical energy  Light energy + Heat energy

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2. State the principle of conservation of energy.

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3. A ball has a mass of 0.5 kg. Dropped from a cliff top, the ball hits the sea below at a
speed of 10 m/s.
a. What is the kinetic energy of the ball as it is about to hit the sea?

b. What was the ball’s gravitational potential energy before it was dropped?

c. From what height was the ball dropped?

3. A kettle transfers 1,500 J of electrical energy to 1,200 J thermal energy store in the water
and 300 J to the air as sound. How efficient is the kettle?

4. Rachel uses 24 kJ of energy drying her hair with a hairdryer. The hairdryer is 45%
efficient. How much energy is wasted?

5. The daily recommended consumption of calories for the average adult woman is 2,000
kcal, equivalent to 8,400 kJ of energy gained from food. In a typical day, 1,680 kJ of this
energy is used by the brain and 5,040 kJ is used in physical activity and body processes.
The rest is transferred externally as thermal energy.
a. Draw a Sankey diagram to represent energy transfer in the body of the average adult
woman.

b. How efficient is the human body?

Challenge Yourself (optional)

1. Both uranium and coal are used in power stations to generate electricity. 700,000
MJ of energy is released per kilogram of uranium, and 25 MJ per kilogram of coal.
a. If using uranium to generate electricity is 35% efficient, and using coal is 40%
efficient, how much of each fuel by itself would be needed to generate
490,000 MJ of electrical energy?

b. How might the results of this calculation influence which power stations are
built to supply electricity?