Unit 4 – Energy

Week 1: Energy Around You

Week 2: Sound Energy
Week 3: Light Energy
Week 4: Heat Energy and Efficiency
Week 5: Heat Energy and Efficiency
Kinetic Energy: Kinetic Energy – the energy of movement. The faster an object
moves, the more kinetic energy it has. A ball rolling on the ground has kinetic
energy. The ball's motion gives it energy.
Heat/Thermal Energy: Energy created by the generation of heat, often caused
by friction. The hotter an object becomes and the more thermal energy it
possesses. A campfire gives off heat energy. The burning wood in the campfire
creates heat, which warms up the air around it.
Where can we observe heat energy?
 Sun
 Flames
 Chemical reactions
 Electrical devices
 People/animals
Light Energy: Energy captured from light waves produced by an object.
 Light globes
 Fires
 Sun
 Some animals
Sunlight is a natural example of light energy. Sunlight travels from the sun to
Earth in the form of waves and provides us with light and heat.
Sound Energy: The energy air has when it is vibrating. Your ears interpret the
vibrating as sound.
Tapping a drum creates sound energy. The vibrations from the drum travel
through the air and can be heard by our ears.
Electrical Energy: Produced by power stations, solar cells, batteries and
lightning.
 Electrical energy powers your TV, phone, microwave, toaster…
 Electricity is generated by power stations, solar cells and
batteries. It is produced by the movement of charges within
atoms.
Lightning is a natural example of electrical energy. Lightning is a giant spark of
electricity that is created by the buildup of electrical charges in the atmosphere.
Potential Energy: Not all forms of energy are obvious.
  Many objects around you have stored energy.
 This is called potential energy.
 There are things that are not using energy at the moment but they have
stored energy. This means they have the potential to make things
happen.
 Petrol in a car’s fuel tank » Petrol can burn
 Books on a shelf » Books can fall off shelf
Chemical Energy: The energy stored in substances such as food, wood,
coal, petrol and other fuels. Released by your body when you digest food, or
by cars when fuel is burnt.
How is this possible: The foods you eat originally obtained their energy from the
sun.
Plants capture sunlight energy and turn it into chemical energy (in the form of
simple sugars) during photosynthesis. The animals you eat have obtained their
energy from these plants. When you eat plants or animals, your body uses these
sugars as energy.
Gravitational Energy: Energy stored in an object when it is above the
ground.
 The higher the object, the more gravitational potential energy it
has.
 For example: the higher a waterslide, the more gravitational
potential energy you will have at the top of the slide and the more
kinetic energy you will have on the way down.
 Nuclear Energy: Energy stored in tiny atoms that make up all
matter.
 Nuclear power plants can split atoms and release that energy in a
process called fission.
 Fusion – when atoms combine - occurs inside the sun.
 Nuclear reactions produce heat and light.
Elastic/mechanical Energy: The energy which is stored by an object that has
been stretched or squashed.
Rubber bands and springs are good examples of potential elastic energy.
The energy is released when the spring or elastic band is released.

Energy can be transferred

 Energy can be passed from one object to another. This is known as energy
transfer.
 For example: When you kick a ball, the kinetic energy from your foot
is transferred to kinetic energy in the ball, making the ball move.
Energy transfer: Energy is not lost but is passed from one object to another.
This is known as energy transfer.

Energy can be transformed

 Energy can change from one form to another.
 When energy changes from one form to another, we call this an energy
transformation (or an energy conversion).
 Many energy transformations result in something happening that we can
see with our eyes.

Heat Transfer
 When you stand in front of a heater, heat (thermal) energy is transferred
from the heater to you. Heat energy can be transferred in three ways:
 Conduction
 Convection
 Radiation
Conduction: Conduction happens between two objects when they are in
contact.
 Heat transfers from the hotter object into the cooler one, until they
are both the same temperature.
 Conduction is the reason you get burnt if you touch a hot stove top.
 Conduction also explains why a can of lemonade feels cold. This is
because the heat is transferred away from your warm hand into the metal
 of the can and the cold drink inside. In this way, conduction makes your
hand get colder and the can and lemonade get warmer.

Convection: Heat can flow through liquids and gases – this is called convection.
 Convection causes heat to rise, making it hotter near the ceiling
than on the floor.
 Convection spreads heat from the heater around a room.

Radiation: Heat radiates (spreads outwards) from any hot object. This type of
heat transfer is called radiation.
 Radiant heat is transferred as a wave that can travel even through the
vacuum of space (where there is no air). This explain why you feel the
heat from the sun.
 Radiation is easily blocked. If you stand in the shade of a tree it is cooler
as the radiant heat cannot reach you.

Sound Energy
• Sound is a form of energy that is transferred as a wave.
• Sound waves are mechanical waves, which means they involve
the vibration of particles.
 • Therefore, sound can travel through solids, liquids and gases, but cannot
travel through a vacuum.
• Like all mechanical waves, sound waves require a source of vibration that
disturbs the surrounding medium – such as air – which transfers the sound
wave.
• An example is our voices, which are the result of vibration of our vocal
cords.

How sound is made?

 For a sound to be produced, something must be vibrating.
 Sound needs molecules to move. It is impossible for sound to travel in
space.
 Sound doesn’t have to move through air. It can travel through water or
metal.
In fact, sound travels faster through water and solids than it does through air

How we hear sound?

When air molecules inside the ear vibrate, they shake tiny hairs on the insides of
the ears. The hairs are connected to nerves under the skin.

Molecules
Vibrating

These nerves send messages to your brain to tell you that you heard a noise

Communicating
with the brain

Speed of Sound?
• Sound travels much slower than light, whether in air or in water.
• You often hear things after you see them, for example you see the
lightning before you hear the thunder.

Light travels at 300 million meters per

second
Sound travels at 340 meters per second.
The speed that a sound travels depends upon the material through which it
travels.

What Kind of Energy is Sound Energy?

• Sound is a form of energy that is transferred as a wave.
• Sound waves are mechanical waves, which means they involve
the vibration of particles.
• Therefore, sound can travel through solids, liquids and gases, but cannot
travel through a vacuum.
• Like all mechanical waves, sound waves require a source of vibration that
disturbs the surrounding medium – such as air – which transfers the sound
wave.
• An example is our voices, which are the result of vibration of our vocal
cords.

How can sound energy be affected?

• Sound can be reflected if the sound wave hits a hard surface. This
produces an echo.
• Sound can be absorbed by softer materials to help reduce noise and
echoes.
• Sound can be diffused by an uneven surface that disperses the sound
waves and muffles noise.
Some sound is usually transmitted through the surface it comes into contact
with.
 Wavelength, Frequency and Amplitude
Wavelength:
• The length of one wave
Frequency:
• The number of waves per second Measured in hertz (Hz)
• A low frequency sound has a long wavelength and a low pitch
• A high frequency sound has a short wavelength and a high pitch.
Amplitude:
• Distance between the middle line and the top or bottom of a wave.
• Determines the loudness of the sound
• Measured in decibels (dB)
 Light Energy
The Interaction of Light with Objects
When light hits a surface, it acts much like sound energy. Light energy may be:
 Transmitted through the substance.
 Reflected from the surface.
 Absorbed into the surface.

Reflection of Light
All surfaces reflect some light. For us to see a surface, light has to reflect off it
and enter our eyes.
 When light energy bounces off surfaces, this is called reflection.
 When light energy hits the surfaces of objects around us, it reflects or
scatters from these objects into our eyes, so that we can see them.
 If a surface is very smooth and still, then the reflection of light produces
an image. This is what happens with mirrors.

Angle of Incidence – the Angle of Reflection – the

angle at which light hits angle at which light
bounces/reflects off the
 Light reflects off the surface at the same angle that it hits the surface.

Mirrors
 Most Mirrors are flat. These are called plane mirrors.
 Mirrors can also be curved.
 A mirror that curves outwards is called a convex mirror.
 Convex mirrors produce small images that show a wide angle of view.
 A mirror that curves inwards is called a concave mirror.
 Concave mirrors magnify images when used at a close distance.
 Concave mirrors can also be used to focus light to a point.

Refraction of Light
 As well as being reflected, light energy can be refracted (bent).
 Light bends or refracts when it passes through a new substance.

Refraction and Dispersion

 Refraction is the phenomenon behind dispersion. When white light passes
through a water droplet in the sky, each colour slows down by a slightly
different amount.
 This means that the different colours that make up white light travel
through the water at slightly different speeds.
 As a result, each colour’s wave is bent a little bit differently! This splits the
white light into the colours of the rainbow.
 Lenses
• Lenses are specifically shaped so that they will bend light in a particular
way.
• A convex lens curves outwards at the centre and bends light towards the
centre (bends light together).
• Convex lenses are often used to enlarge (magnify) images.
• A concave lens is a lens that curves inwards and spreads light apart.
• Concave lenses can be used to produce small but clear images.

Convex Lenses
 Convex Lenses curve outwards at the centre.
 Convex lenses can be used to magnify (enlarge) images when placed close
to an object.
 Convex lenses can be used to project images when used from a distance.
Concave Lenses
 Concave lenses curve inwards at the centre.
 Concave lenses produce small and upright images.
Convex lenses are used in:
• Glasses
• Microscopes
• Telescopes
• Binoculars
Concave lenses are used in:
• Flashlights
• Cameras
• Lasers
• Glasses

The Human Eye

 Everything that you see is an image, created when the energy of light
waves entering your eyes is transmitted to a ‘screen’ at the back of each
eye.
 This screen, called the retina, is lined with millions of cells that are
sensitive to light. These cells respond to light by sending electrical signals
to your brain through the optic nerve.

Variations in Eyesight
 If light is focused behind the retina or in front of the retina, your sight will
be blurry, depending on whether you are looking at things close to you or
further away.
 A person who is short-sighted is unable to obtain sharp images of distant
objects. The cornea and lens bend the light too much. As a result, the light
from a distant object focuses in front of the retina causing the image
formed on the retina to be blurry.
 A person who is long-sighted is unable to obtain sharp images of nearby
objects. The cornea and lens don’t bend the light enough. As a result, the
light from a nearby object reaches the retina before it comes to a focus
causing the image formed on the retina to be blurry.
The use of lenses to correct eyesight
 Short-sightedness can be corrected by wearing glasses or contact lenses
with convexo-concave lenses.
 These lenses diverge the light just a little before it enters the eye.
 As a result, the light from the object focuses on the retina instead of in
front of it.

A convex–concave lens has one slightly convex side and one slightly concave
side. The concave side is more curved than the convex side, so it acts like a
concave (diverging) lens.
 Long-sightedness can be corrected by wearing glasses or contact lenses
with concavo-convex lenses.
 These lenses converge the light just a little before it enters the eye.
 As a result, the light from the object focuses on the retina instead of
behind it.

A concave–convex lens has one slightly concave side and one slightly convex
side. The convex side is more curved than the concave side, so it acts like a
convex (converging) lens.
 Heat Energy

Conduction
• Conduction happens between two objects when they are in contact.
• Heat transfers from the hotter object into the cooler one, until they
are both the same temperature.
• Conduction is the reason you get burnt if you touch a hot stove top.
• Conduction also explains why a can of lemonade feels cold. This is
because the heat is transferred away from your warm hand into the metal
of the can and the cold drink inside. In this way, conduction makes your
hand get colder and the can and lemonade get warmer.

Convection
• Heat can flow through liquids and gases – this is called convection.
• Convection causes heat to rise, making it hotter near the ceiling
than on the floor.
• Convection spreads heat from the heater around a room.

Radiation
• Heat radiates (spreads outwards) from any hot object. This type of heat
transfer is called radiation.
• Radiant heat is transferred as a wave that can travel even through the
vacuum of space (where there is no air). This explain why you feel the
heat from the sun.
• Radiation is easily blocked. If you stand in the shade of a tree it is cooler
as the radiant heat cannot reach you.
 Energy Efficiency
 Remember that energy efficiency is measure of how much input energy
is converted into useful output energy.
 Household appliances vary in their energy efficiency.
 By purchasing appliances that are more energy efficient, your household
will save energy.
 This is cheaper and better for the environment!

Energy Rating Labels

 Household appliances often come with energy rating labels which tell us
how energy efficient it is.
 It is a rating out of 10 stars:
  More stars = more energy efficient
 It also shows us the amount of energy needed to operate the appliance for
one year.
 In kilowatt hours (kWh) per year.