Energy
Describing Energy:
➢ Change Requires Energy:
When something is able to change its surroundings or itself, it has energy. Energy is the ability
to cause change, or in other words the ability to do work. Without energy, nothing would ever
change.
Figure 1: The moving tennis racket in this
figure has energy. That racket causes change
when it deforms the tennis ball and changes
the tennis ball’s motion.
➢ Different Forms of Energy:
Turn on an electric light, and a dark room becomes bright. Turn on a portable music player, and
sound comes through your headphones. In both situations, a change occurs. These changes
differ from each other and the tennis racket hitting the tennis ball in the figure above. This is
because energy has many different forms. These forms include mechanical energy (kinetic and
potential), electrical energy, chemical energy, and radiant energy. The figure below displays
some everyday situations in which you might notice energy. Automobiles make use of the
chemical energy of gasoline. Many household appliances require electrical energy to function.
Radiant energy from the Sun warms Earth. In short, energy plays a role in every activity that you
do.
➢ Kinetic energy:
When you think of energy, you might think of objects in motion. Objects in motion can collide
with other objects and cause change. Therefore, objects in motion have energy. Kinetic energy
(KE) is energy due to motion. A car moving along a highway and a ballet dancer leaping through
the air have kinetic energy. The kinetic energy from an object’s motion depends on that
object’s mass and speed.
➢ Potential energy:
Energy does not always involve motion. Even motionless (at rest) objects can have energy.
Potential energy (PE) is energy that is stored due to the interactions between objects. One
example is the energy stored between an apple hanging on a tree and Earth. Energy is stored
between the apple and Earth because of the gravitational force between the apple and Earth.
Another example is the energy stored between objects that are connected by a compressed
spring or a stretched rubber band.
Potential energy arises in systems with parts that exert forces on each other of a magnitude
dependent on the relative position, of the parts. In the case of the Earth-ball system,
the force of gravity between the two depends only on the distance separating them. The work
done in separating them farther, or in raising the ball, transfers additional energy to the system,
where it is stored as gravitational potential energy.
For example, an apple that is hanging from a tree has stored energy. If the apple stays in the
tree, it will keep its stored energy because of its position above the ground. If the apple falls to
the ground, a change happens. Because the apple can cause change, it has energy. Stored
energy due to position is called potential energy. The stored energy of position, potential
energy, will change to energy of motion, kinetic energy, when the apple falls.
➢ Gravitational potential energy: A form of potential energy
Gravitational potential energy is energy that is due to the gravitational forces between
objects. Gravitational potential energy is the energy stored in an object as the result of its
vertical position or height. The energy is stored as the result of the gravitational attraction of
the Earth for the object. Gravitational potential energy is often shortened to GPE. Any system
that has objects that are attracted to each other through gravity has gravitational potential
energy. An apple and Earth have gravitational potential energy.
➢ The Law of Conservation of Energy:
The law of conservation of energy states that energy cannot be created or destroyed.
Energy can only be converted from one form to another or transferred from one place to
another. The law of conservation of energy is a universal principle that states that total energy
remains constant.
Examples of Energy Transformations:
• Falling objects:
Look at the apple tree in the figure below. An apple-Earth system, which is a
system that includes an apple and Earth, has
gravitational potential energy. The apple-Earth
system does not have kinetic energy while the
apple is hanging from the tree because the apple is
not moving. However, when the apple falls, it gets
closer to Earth, so the GPE of the apple-Earth
system decreases. This potential energy is
transformed into kinetic energy as the apple’s
speed increases. Potential energy is being
converted into kinetic energy. The potential energy
that the apple-Earth system loses is gained back as
kinetic energy. The form of energy changes, but the
total amount of energy remains the same.
• Swings:
A ride on a swing illustrates how kinetic energy changes to potential energy and
back to kinetic energy. The ride starts with a push, which transfers kinetic energy to
the rider. As the swing rises, the rider loses speed but gains height. In energy terms,
kinetic energy changes to gravitational potential energy (GPE). At the top of the rider’s
path, GPE is at its greatest. As the rider swings back and forth, energy is continually
transformed
between kinetic
energy and GPE.
Key Points:
1. Forms of energy include mechanical, electrical, chemical, thermal, and radiant energy.
2. Kinetic energy is the energy that a moving object has because of its motion.
3. Potential energy is stored energy due to the interactions between objects.
4. Different forms of potential energy include elastic potential energy, chemical potential
energy, and gravitational potential energy.
5. According to the law of conservation of energy, energy cannot be created or destroyed.
6. Energy can be transformed from one form to another.
End of topic questions to answer:
1. Define:
• Energy:
• Kinetic energy:
• Potential energy:
2. What are some different forms of energy?
3. Describe a situation where potential energy becomes kinetic energy.
4. What is one type of potential energy?
5. What is the law of conservation of energy?
6. Give an example of energy transformation.
7. After reading this document, identify three things you have learned about energy.
