Professional Documents
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Forms of Energy
Key Concepts
What do you think? Read the two statements below and decide
whether you agree or disagree with them. Place an A in the Before column
if you agree with the statement or a D if you disagree. After youve read
this lesson, reread the statements to see if you have changed your mind.
Before
Statement
After
Energy
Some breakfast cereals promise to give you enough energy
to get your day off to a great start. News reports often mention
the price of oil, which is an energy source that provides
fuel for cars and for transporting goods around the world.
Weather reporters talk about the approach of a storm system
that has a lot of energy. News anchors report on earthquakes
and tsunamis, which carry so much energy they cause great
damage. Politicians talk about the nations energy policy and
the need to conserve energy and to find new energy
resources.
Potential Energy
Think of a book balanced on the edge of a desk. The
books position could easily change, which means it has
potential energy. Potential energy is stored energy due to the
interaction between objects or particles. Particles include atoms,
ions, and molecules. Objects have potential energy if they
have the potential to cause change. Examples of potential
energy include objects that could fall due to gravity and
particles that could move because of electric or magnetic
forces.
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Chemical Energy
Suppose you put on skates to play ice hockey. Where does
your body get the energy it needs to play? Energy in your
body comes from the foods you eat. All objects, including
food, are made of atoms that are joined by chemical bonds.
Chemical energy is the energy stored in and released from the bonds
between atoms. Your body breaks chemical bonds in foods and
converts the released energy into other forms of energy that
your body can use.
Nuclear Energy
Make a four-column chart
book to organize your notes
on the different forms of
energy that fall into each of
the categories.
Kinetic Energy
Are you moving your hand as you take notes? Are you
squirming in your chair as you try to find a comfortable
position? If so, you have kinetic energyenergy due to motion.
All objects that have motion have kinetic energy.
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Electric Energy
Even objects you cannot see have kinetic energy. Recall
that all materials are made of atoms. In an atom, electrons
move around a nucleus. Sometimes electrons move from one
atom to another. Because electrons are moving, they have
kinetic energy. When electrons move, they create an electric
current. The energy in an electric current is electric energy. For
example, in a simple circuit electrons move from one terminal
of a battery through the copper wire and bulb to the other
terminal of the battery. As the electrons move, their energy
is transformed into light. Your brain and the nerves in your
body that tell your arm and leg muscles to move also use
electric energy.
4. Differentiate How do
potential energy and kinetic
energy differ?
Mechanical Energy
Suppose the hockey player hits the hockey puck into the
air. Does the puck have kinetic energy or potential energy?
It has mass and motion, so it has kinetic energy. It also has
height above Earth, so it has gravitational potential energy.
Scientists often study the energy of systems, such as the one
described above. The sum of the potential energy and the kinetic
energy in a system is mechanical energy. You might think of
mechanical energy as the ability to move another object.
What happens when the hockey puck hits the net? The net
moves. The hockey puck has mechanical energy that causes
another object to move.
Thermal Energy
Even when the hockey puck is lying on the floor with no
obvious motion, the particles that make up the solid puck
are in motion. The particles vibrate back and forth in place.
Therefore, the particles have kinetic energy. The particles also
have potential energy because of attractive forces between
the particles. An objects thermal energy is the sum of the kinetic
energy and the potential energy of the particles that make up the
object. Thermal energy of an object increases when the
potential energy, the kinetic energy, or both increase.
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5. Explain What is a
system?
6. Compare mechanical
energy and thermal energy.
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7. Recognize What do
Sound Energy
waves carry?
Visual Check
8. Examine Determine
Radiant Energy
Electromagnetic Waves
Electric field
Magnetic field
Electron
Direction
of travel
Wavelength
Gamma
rays
10-14
X-rays
10-12
Ultraviolet
rays
10-10
400
Infrared
rays
Radar
500
10-2
600
FM
1
TV
Shortwave
AM
102
104
Wavelength (meters)
700
Wavelength (nanometers)
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Mini Glossary
chemical energy: energy that is stored in and released from
the bonds between atoms
nucleus of an atom
1. Review the terms and their definitions in the Mini Glossary. Write a sentence explaining
how your body gets energy from food.
energy carried by
electromagnetic waves
Forms of Energy
e.
energy in motion
d.
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a.
Connect ED
Log on to ConnectED.mcgraw-hill.com
and access your textbook to find this
lessons resources.
END OF
LESSON
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