Energy

Nature of Energy

• You use energy when you:

• hit a softball.
• lift your book bag.
• compress a spring.
Nature of Energy

Living organisms need energy for

growth and movement.
Nature of Energy
• Energy can be defined as the ability to do work.
• If an object does work means the object uses energy.
• Because of the direct connection between energy and
work, energy is measured in the same unit as work:
joules (J).
• In addition to using energy to do work, objects gain
energy because work is being done on them.
 Forms of Energy
The five main forms of energy
are:
• Heat
• Chemical
• Electromagnetic
• Nuclear
• Mechanical
 Thermal/Heat Energy
• A special form of kinetic energy
• Energy of moving or vibrating molecules
• The faster the molecules vibrate the hotter
they become
• When heat is produced we have thermal
energy.
Thermal/Heat Energy
• Volcanoes can be a natural source of thermal energy.
When we use the heat of the earth it is called
geothermal energy.
 Chemical Energy
• Stored in chemical bonds holding the atoms of
compounds together
• Food, wood, batteries, fossil fuels
Chemical Energy
• When a chemical reaction takes place energy is used.
• If energy is pulled in from the surrounding area during
a chemical reaction, the area gets cold and the
reaction is endothermic.
• Commercial ice packs for injuries work this way.
Chemical Energy
• When a chemical
reaction takes place
and releases energy
it can increase the
temperature. We call
this an exothermic
reaction.
Chemical Energy
Plants can make their own
energy through a process
called photosynthesis.
They are the bases for a
food chain. All other living
things that cannot carry
on photosynthesis
depend on plants for their
energy.
 Energy Transformation

• In photosynthesis radiant or light energy from

the sun is changed to chemical energy in the
leaf.
Chemical Energy
• Other living things can get energy from eating plants
or eating things that eat plants.
Chemical Energy
• The energy we eat is stored as potential chemical energy until we
need it. When we use the energy through an activity then it becomes
kinetic mechanical energy.
 Chemical Energy
• Plants make food through the process of photosynthesis. When we
use the energy from the chemical energy we store we break it
down through a process called respiration. These are opposite
energy reactions.
 Nuclear Energy
• Energy stored in the nuclei
of atoms
• Released by fission, the
splitting of nuclei of heavy
atoms
• Released by fusion-the
combining of nuclei of light
atoms
 Mechanical Energy
• Most familiar-involved with moving objects;
atoms are moving and pushing each other
• Sound is an example-occurs when atoms in
a media vibrate in a direction outward from
the sound source. Sometimes, sound is
classified as its own energy source.
Mechanical Energy
• When we move or work we are using mechanical
energy.