Section 7-1 "Potential Energy"
Lesson Objectives
By the end of this lesson, students should be able to:
- Define potential energy and provide examples of it.
- Describe the two main types of potential energy.
- Explain how potential energy differs from kinetic energy.
- Explain how kinetic energy can turn into potential energy and how potential energy can turn into kinetic energy.
- Use a ramp to investigate energy transfer.
- Record data in a table.
- Compare results from several trials.
Lesson Questions
By the end of this lesson, students should be able to answer the following:
- What is potential energy and what are some examples of it?
- What are types of potential energy?
- What is the difference between potential energy and kinetic energy?
- How does potential energy turn into kinetic energy?
Focus Question's
I.) What is energy?
II.) How are forces related to energy?
Lesson Objectives
By the end of this lesson, students should be able to:
- Define potential energy and provide examples of it.
- Describe the two main types of potential energy.
- Explain how potential energy differs from kinetic energy.
- Explain how kinetic energy can turn into potential energy and how potential energy can turn into kinetic energy.
- Use a ramp to investigate energy transfer.
- Record data in a table.
- Compare results from several trials.
Lesson Questions
By the end of this lesson, students should be able to answer the following:
- What is potential energy and what are some examples of it?
- What are types of potential energy?
- What is the difference between potential energy and kinetic energy?
- How does potential energy turn into kinetic energy?
Focus Question's
I.) What is energy?
II.) How are forces related to energy?
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What is Energy?
- Energeia is the Greek word for energy, meaning in or at work.
- Over time, energy has come to mean many things to us.
- In physical science, energy means the ability to do work.
- Work means a change in position, speed, state, or form of matter. Therefore, energy is the capacity to change matter.
- Everything we do involves energy. Getting up, going to school, and doing chores require energy. In fact, everything that happens in the universe, from the eruption of volcanoes, to the sprouting of seed, to the moving of people, takes energy. When we turn on a motor, drive a car, cook on a stove or switch on a light, we are using energy.
*Check out a volcanic eruption and a seedling growing due to types of energies shrouding us.*
*Energy causes things to happen around us.*
- Look out the window.
- During the day, the sun gives out light and heat energy.
- At night, street lamps use electrical energy to light our way.
- When a car drives by, it is being powered by gasoline, a type of stored energy.
- The food we eat contains energy. We use that energy to work and play.
- We learned the definition of energy in the introduction:
"Energy Is the Ability to Do Work."
- Energy can be found in a number of different forms.
- Energy can be in the form of chemical energy, electrical energy, thermal energy, light (radiant energy), mechanical energy, nuclear energy, elastic energy, and gravitational energy.
Note:
Energy cannot be created or destroyed. However, it can be changed from one form into another. Changing energy back and forth from one form or state to another is how we control it for our use.
Energy makes everything happen and can be divided into two types:
I.) Stored energy is called potential energy.
II.) Moving energy is called kinetic energy.
EXAMPLE:
*With a pencil, try this example to know the two types of energy.
Put the pencil at the edge of the desk and push it off to the floor. The moving pencil uses kinetic energy.
**Now, pick up the pencil and put it back on the desk. You used your own energy to lift and move the pencil. Moving it higher than the floor adds energy to it. As it rests on the desk, the pencil has potential energy. The higher it is, the further it could fall. That means the pencil has more potential energy.
What is Energy?
- Energeia is the Greek word for energy, meaning in or at work.
- Over time, energy has come to mean many things to us.
- In physical science, energy means the ability to do work.
- Work means a change in position, speed, state, or form of matter. Therefore, energy is the capacity to change matter.
- Everything we do involves energy. Getting up, going to school, and doing chores require energy. In fact, everything that happens in the universe, from the eruption of volcanoes, to the sprouting of seed, to the moving of people, takes energy. When we turn on a motor, drive a car, cook on a stove or switch on a light, we are using energy.
*Check out a volcanic eruption and a seedling growing due to types of energies shrouding us.*
*Energy causes things to happen around us.*
- Look out the window.
- During the day, the sun gives out light and heat energy.
- At night, street lamps use electrical energy to light our way.
- When a car drives by, it is being powered by gasoline, a type of stored energy.
- The food we eat contains energy. We use that energy to work and play.
- We learned the definition of energy in the introduction:
"Energy Is the Ability to Do Work."
- Energy can be found in a number of different forms.
- Energy can be in the form of chemical energy, electrical energy, thermal energy, light (radiant energy), mechanical energy, nuclear energy, elastic energy, and gravitational energy.
Note:
Energy cannot be created or destroyed. However, it can be changed from one form into another. Changing energy back and forth from one form or state to another is how we control it for our use.
Energy makes everything happen and can be divided into two types:
I.) Stored energy is called potential energy.
II.) Moving energy is called kinetic energy.
EXAMPLE:
*With a pencil, try this example to know the two types of energy.
Put the pencil at the edge of the desk and push it off to the floor. The moving pencil uses kinetic energy.
**Now, pick up the pencil and put it back on the desk. You used your own energy to lift and move the pencil. Moving it higher than the floor adds energy to it. As it rests on the desk, the pencil has potential energy. The higher it is, the further it could fall. That means the pencil has more potential energy.
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What is Potential Energy?
- All energy can be in one of two states: potential energy or kinetic energy.
*Example*: Suddenly a snowboarder is flying down the rim of a half-pipe and up again, soaring right over the rim and performing tricks in midair. What gives the snowboarder energy to perform such thrilling tricks? The snowboarder's initial position at the top of the half-pipe gives her potential energy. The snowboarder's breakfast also gave her potential energy. Her muscles release some of that energy as they work to twist and turn her body through tricks.
What is Potential Energy?
- All energy can be in one of two states: potential energy or kinetic energy.
*Example*: Suddenly a snowboarder is flying down the rim of a half-pipe and up again, soaring right over the rim and performing tricks in midair. What gives the snowboarder energy to perform such thrilling tricks? The snowboarder's initial position at the top of the half-pipe gives her potential energy. The snowboarder's breakfast also gave her potential energy. Her muscles release some of that energy as they work to twist and turn her body through tricks.
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What Is Potential Energy and What Are Some Examples of It?
- Potential energy is energy that is stored in a system or an object. This energy has the potential to do work when it is eventually released. The amount of stored energy depends on an object’s position or condition.
- For example, as a snowboarder moves to a position higher above Earth’s surface, she gains potential energy. When this potential energy is released, gravity does the work of moving her body to a new position.
What Are Two Types of Potential Energy?
- The potential energy an object has as a result of its height above the ground is called gravitational potential energy. Gravity has the potential to set the object in motion.
- Gravitational potential energy is the energy possessed by a body because of its elevation (height) relative to a lower elevation, that is, the energy that could be obtained by letting it fall to a lower elevation. For example, water at the top of a waterfall or stored behind a dam at a hydroelectric plant has gravitational potential energy.
- The second form of potential energy that we will discuss is elastic potential energy. Elastic potential energy is the energy stored in elastic materials as the result of their stretching or compressing. Elastic potential energy can be stored in rubber bands, bungee chords, trampolines, springs, an arrow drawn into a bow, etc. The amount of elastic potential energy stored in such a device is related to the amount of stretch of the device - the more stretch, the more stored energy.
- The atoms and molecules that make up your body and the food you eat have chemical potential energy. That energy can be released when you use your muscles to move objects or when your body breaks down food.
- The centers of atoms have nuclear potential energy. Huge amounts of energy can be released in nuclear reactions such as those that occur in the sun.
What Is Potential Energy and What Are Some Examples of It?
- Potential energy is energy that is stored in a system or an object. This energy has the potential to do work when it is eventually released. The amount of stored energy depends on an object’s position or condition.
- For example, as a snowboarder moves to a position higher above Earth’s surface, she gains potential energy. When this potential energy is released, gravity does the work of moving her body to a new position.
What Are Two Types of Potential Energy?
- The potential energy an object has as a result of its height above the ground is called gravitational potential energy. Gravity has the potential to set the object in motion.
- Gravitational potential energy is the energy possessed by a body because of its elevation (height) relative to a lower elevation, that is, the energy that could be obtained by letting it fall to a lower elevation. For example, water at the top of a waterfall or stored behind a dam at a hydroelectric plant has gravitational potential energy.
- The second form of potential energy that we will discuss is elastic potential energy. Elastic potential energy is the energy stored in elastic materials as the result of their stretching or compressing. Elastic potential energy can be stored in rubber bands, bungee chords, trampolines, springs, an arrow drawn into a bow, etc. The amount of elastic potential energy stored in such a device is related to the amount of stretch of the device - the more stretch, the more stored energy.
- The atoms and molecules that make up your body and the food you eat have chemical potential energy. That energy can be released when you use your muscles to move objects or when your body breaks down food.
- The centers of atoms have nuclear potential energy. Huge amounts of energy can be released in nuclear reactions such as those that occur in the sun.
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What Is the Difference Between Potential Energy and Kinetic Energy?
- Kinetic energy and potential energy are both forms of energy.
- Potential energy is the energy an object has as a result of its position or its state. It is the potential that an object or a system has to do work.
- Kinetic energy is the energy of an object due to its motion. An object that is not moving does not have kinetic energy, but it probably has potential energy due to its position or the chemical bonds of its atoms.
- As the position of an object changes over time, one type of energy is converted to the other.
What Is the Difference Between Potential Energy and Kinetic Energy?
- Kinetic energy and potential energy are both forms of energy.
- Potential energy is the energy an object has as a result of its position or its state. It is the potential that an object or a system has to do work.
- Kinetic energy is the energy of an object due to its motion. An object that is not moving does not have kinetic energy, but it probably has potential energy due to its position or the chemical bonds of its atoms.
- As the position of an object changes over time, one type of energy is converted to the other.
How Does Potential Energy Turn into Kinetic Energy?
- Potential energy can be transformed into kinetic energy in different ways depending on how the potential energy is stored.
- Chemical potential energy can be transformed into kinetic energy when chemical bonds in food are broken and the energy is used by your muscles to walk, swim, lift weights, or do anything else that requires motion.
- Gravitational potential energy is transformed into kinetic energy when an object falls off a ledge or is allowed to roll off a desktop.
- Nuclear potential energy is transformed into kinetic energy when it is used to heat water to boiling and produce steam that can power a turbine.
-Most of the energy under our control is in the form of potential energy.
- Potential energy can be viewed as motion waiting to happen.
- When the motion is needed, potential energy can be changed into one of the six forms of kinetic energy.
- Kinetic energy is energy at work.
- A lawn mower cutting grass, a car racing down a hill, and students running home from school are examples of kinetic energy. So is the light energy emitted by lamps. Even electrical energy is kinetic energy. Whenever we use energy to do work, it is in the kinetic state.
- Potential energy can be transformed into kinetic energy in different ways depending on how the potential energy is stored.
- Chemical potential energy can be transformed into kinetic energy when chemical bonds in food are broken and the energy is used by your muscles to walk, swim, lift weights, or do anything else that requires motion.
- Gravitational potential energy is transformed into kinetic energy when an object falls off a ledge or is allowed to roll off a desktop.
- Nuclear potential energy is transformed into kinetic energy when it is used to heat water to boiling and produce steam that can power a turbine.
-Most of the energy under our control is in the form of potential energy.
- Potential energy can be viewed as motion waiting to happen.
- When the motion is needed, potential energy can be changed into one of the six forms of kinetic energy.
- Kinetic energy is energy at work.
- A lawn mower cutting grass, a car racing down a hill, and students running home from school are examples of kinetic energy. So is the light energy emitted by lamps. Even electrical energy is kinetic energy. Whenever we use energy to do work, it is in the kinetic state.
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