Energy+Transformations+and+Conservation



Table of Contents: **1**. Energy Transformations  ** 1. Energy Transformations: ** "In 1847, British physicist James Prescott Joule demonstrated that mechanical energy could be converted into heat. Soon, scientists learned that any form of energy could be converted into any other form" (World Book 274).
 * 1A**. Single Transformations
 * 1B**. Multiple Transformations
 * 1C**. "Waste" Energy
 * 2**. Transformations Between Potential and Kinetic Energy
 * 3**. Conservations of Energy
 * 3A**. Energy and Friction
 * 3B**. Energy in Matter and Mass
 * 4**. Resources

Energy Transformation is when you take a form of energy, and convert it into another form of energy. Almost all forms of energy can be transformed, such as potential energy to kinetic, and electric to thermal. Along with kinetic energy, there are potential, elastic potential, thermal, electrical, nuclear, electromagnetic, and chemical energies. There are 2 different kinds of energy transformations. We have single transformations, and multiple transformations.

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 * 1A. ** Single Transformations: A single transformation only changes the energy once. We use single transformations every day, such as when we toast bread. The toaster transforms its electrical energy into thermal energy to heat up the bread and eventually toast it. Another example of a single transformation is when we call or send a message on our phone. “A cell phone transforms electrical energy into electromagnetic energy that travels to other phones” (Griffith 159).
 * 1B. ** Multiple Transformations: A multiple transformation can change the type of energy many times. For example, wh[[image:t206b1c01f40[1].jpg align="right" caption="Multiple Transformation  http://openlearn.open.ac.uk/file.php/1697/t206b1c01f40.jpg"]]en you light a match. It transforms a lot more than people think. First, you have mechanical energy, which is used to light the match. That transforms into thermal energy. “The thermal energy causes the match to release stored chemical energy, which is transformed to thermal energy and the electromagnetic energy you see as light” (Griffith159). The same sort of thing happens in a car engine. Electrical energy make sparks with thermal energy, which releases chemical energy into the fuel. The chemical energy from the fuel then becomes thermal energy, which is then transformed into mechanical energy. When all of that happens, the car moves, and makes more electrical energy to make sparks.

** 2.Transformations Between Potential and Kinetic Energ y: ** media type="custom" key="6196057"
 * 1C .** Between both transformations, the quantity of energy stays the same the whole time. As the law of conservation of energy states, you cannot make or destroy energy. Because of that, they will always be the same. But you can lose energy, and when you do, it can never be recovered. However, there is some energy known as "waste energy", although it doesn't //really// go to waste. You have waste energy in a car for example. When you turn on the heaters in a car, you are using waste energy to heat yourself up.

Everything that has height above the ground has potential energy. It has gravitational potential energy, which is the "potential energy based on the height of an object" (Griffith 236). However, once the object falls, its potential energy turns into kinetic energy, like you see in the picture below or in the comic. KE stands for kinetic energy and PE stands for potential energy. The roller coaster starts out with a high potential energy, due to how high it is on the hill. Once it starts to fall, its potential energy decreases and turns into kinetic energy, or "energy that an object has due to motion" (Griffith 237). At the bottom of the hill, the roller coaster has maximum kinetic energy, and minimum potential energy, as it has no height. As it goes up another small hill, it's kinetic energy decreases a little as it slows down. The potential energy increases because it is gaining height, which means it will gain gravitational potential energy.

In this pendulum, the blue ball is when the potential energy is highest, the blue and purple is where the kinetic energy is at its highest, and the purple is where the potential energy is the highest. At the blue ball, there is no kinetic energy because it is not moving. It has yet to fall, which means it only has gravitational potential energy. Once it starts swinging, it loses a lot of potential energy, and in return gains kinetic energy. However, at the purple ball, it stops again, losing all kinetic energy and having gravitational potential energy again. That process will keep on going until the ball eventually stops in the middle, losing all kinetic energy.

3. Conservation of Energy:
When energy is transforming into a new form of energy, conservation of energy is in progress. Throughout the entire transformation you keep the same amount of energy no matter what. The law of conservation of energy states that during transformations no energy is lost or destroyed. This means that the total amount of energy is the same before and after any type of transformation.


 * 3A **.Energy and Friction: And example of energy transformations including friction is the spinning of a top. " As the top spins, it encounters friction with the floor and friction from the air. Whenever a moving object experiences friction, some of its kinetic energy is transformed into thermal energy. So, the mechanical energy of the spinning top is transformed to thermal energy. The top eventually falls to its side, but its energy is not destroyed--it is transformed." (Griffith 162)

3B **.Energy in Matter and Mass: When it comes to matter, there can be a tiny exception in the law of conservation of energy. In some instances, a small portion of matter and energy can be created or destroyed during a change. Although there is a change, the total amount of energy plus matter still remains constant. An example can be found in a light bulb. The total amount of energy produced in a light bulb ( heat plus light) is equal to the total amount of energy put into the bulb in a form of energy." (Conservation Laws)

Albert Einstein had a huge part in the exploration of mass and energy. He believed that the two could work together to make something special. "The energy of incoming particles can be converted into new particles with a variety of masses. Each particle created, and the energy converted into its mass, is determined by Einstien's famous equation run backwards: M= E/c². Now there is no question about it; energy and mass are interchangeable." (Hakim 67, 173)

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** 4. Resources: **

"Conservation of Energy." //Energy and Matter //. E-6. Chicago: World Book Inc., 2007. Print.

"Conservation Laws." //The Law of the Conservation of Energy //. 3 Ci-D. New York: Newton Nagel & Travers, 1998. Print.

Hakim, Joy. //The Story of Science: Einstein Adds a New Dimension //. New York: Smithsonian Books, 2007. 67-173. Print.

Jones, Griffith T. //Prentice Hall Science Explorer.// Saddle River, NJ: Pearson / Prentice Hall, 2009. Print.

Snedden, Robert. //Energy Transfer //. Chicago: Heinemann Libraby, 2002. 7-14. Print.

"The Law of Conservation of Energy." //Oracle ThinkQuest Library//. Education Foundation. Web. 12 May 2010. <[].>