3.

1 – Energy Types and Transformations

Forms of Energy
• Energy – the ability to do work
• There are many different forms
1. Chemical – energy stored in chemical bonds
2. Electrical – energy of charged particles
3. Mechanical – energy of moving objects
4. Thermal – Kinetic energy of particles (heat energy)
Chemical Energy

• Energy stored in chemical bonds

• Energy is released or absorbed in chemical reactions
• Chemical energy can be transformed into other
forms of energy
• E.g.) electrical, mechanical, sound
 Energy Transformations

• you can use various devices to transform energy

from one type to another
eg) toaster, flashlight etc.
Examples

• Chemical to electrical
eg. Batteries

• Chemical to thermal and mechanical

eg. Food (sugar)

eg. Dynamite to demolish buildings

Example
• Electrical to Chemical
eg. Battery charger
 Examples
• Thermal to Electrical
eg. Thermocouples
• Two metals that conduct heat at a different rate.
• When they heat up, the difference in conduction causes
electricity to flow from one to the other
• Temperature effects amount of electricity produced, so
they are often used as thermometers
Examples

Electrical to Thermal
eg. Oven
3.2 – Energy Transformations involving Electrical and
Mechanical Energy

CHALLENGE!

Build a magnet
Electric Motors
All electric motors have 4 parts
1. Magnets – along the outside
2. Armature – rotating shaft of motor
3. Commutator – broken ring that breaks and reverses the flow of
current
4. Brushes – conduct electricity from cell or battery to commutator
 How a motor works:

1. electric current travels from the brushes into the

commutators
2. commutators magnetize the wire coil
3. magnets push or pull the wire coil
4. rotation of armature switches the position of the
commutators
5. cycle continues until current is stopped
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2mShGu
G4RY
 Direct and Alternating Current
• direct current (DC) flows in only one direction
• used in devices such as calculators, watches, cell phones, etc.
• alternating current (AC) flows back and forth 60 times per
second
• used in household circuits
Transformers
• the most efficient way to transmit current
over long distances is at a high voltage
(500 000 V)
• we can’t use this in our houses so the
voltage needs to be dropped
• transformers use magnetic fields to
transform one voltage to another
1. Step down transformer – have less coils coming out
than going in (reduces voltage)

2. Step up transformer – more coils coming out than

going in (increases voltage)

What is this one?

 Generators
• electromagnetic induction is the
generation of electrical current
by moving a conducting wire
through a magnetic field
• used for large scale generating
plants
• massive coils of wire rotate in
huge generators to produce
electricity
Two types of generators:

• 1. DC – like a DC motor where the spinning armature

produces a one way flow of electrical current

• 2. AC - has 2 slip rings instead of a commutator, current

flows out through one slip ring then the other, alternating
3.3 – Measuring Energy Input and Output
Power
• power is the rate at which a device converts energy
• measured in watts (W)

P=I×V

P = power in watts (W)

I = current in Amperes (A)
V = voltage in Volts (V)
Example
Calculate the power used by an MP3 player if it uses a
current of 5.0 A and a voltage of 3.0 volts.
Example
Calculate the power used by an MP3 player if it uses a
current of 5.0 A and a voltage of 3.0 volts.

I = 5.0 A P=IxV
V = 3.0 V = (5.0 A)(3.0 V)
P=? = 15 W
Energy
• you can use the power rating of a device and the time it runs to
calculate the amount of energy used
• measured in Joules (J)

E=P×t

E = energy in Joules (J)

P = power in watts (W)
t = time in seconds (s)
Example
Calculate the energy usage if a 15 W MP3 player operates for
2 minutes.
Example
Calculate the energy usage if a 15 W MP3 player operates for
2 minutes.

P = 15 W
t = 2 min x 60 s/min E=Pxt
= 120 s = (15 W)(120 s)
E=? = 1800 J
The Kilowatt Hour

• in our households, it doesn’t take long to use up a lot of Joules of

energy
• we use a more practical unit called the kilowatt hour
• it is calculated with the same formula
E = Pt
• power is measured in kilowatts
(1 kW= 1000 W)
• time is measured in hours (h)
 Energy Dissipation

• Law of Conservation of Energy says that energy

cannot be created or destroyed, it can only change
from one form to another

• energy is lost (dissipated) as heat, sound and/or light

in every conversion
Efficiency
• the efficiency of a device is a comparison of the input energy and
useful output energy

percent efficiency = Joules of useful output x 100

Joules of input energy
Example
Calculate the efficiency of a light bulb that emits 20 J of light
energy for every 80 J of input energy.
Example
Calculate the efficiency of a light bulb that emits 20 J of light
energy for every 80 J of input energy.

% efficiency = Joules of useful output x 100

Joules of input energy
= 20 J x 100
80 J
= 25 %
3.4 – Reducing the energy wasted by devices
• devices used for heat are very efficient
• It Is possible for an electric heater to be 100% efficient
• any device that does not use the heat produced in the
energy transformation is not as efficient
• A lot of energy escapes as “waste”
 What are some ways to increase efficiency?

Create a list of ways to increase efficiency and

decrease waste