Lesson 1

Mechanical Energy

Energy

 Defined by scientists as the ability to do work

 Modern civilization is possible because people have understood how to change energy from a certain form
to another to be used in doing their daily works
 Has many different forms (only 6 are stated)
- Mechanical
o Total energy that results from the movement or the location of an object (potential/kinetic)
- Thermal
o Form of energy that reflects the temperature difference between two systems
o Also known as heat energy
- Chemical
o Form of energy that comes from atoms and molecules and how they interact
- Light
o Also known as radiant energy
- Nuclear
o Form of energy generated by the splitting of atoms
- Electrical
o Form of energy generated by the movement of electrons
 Energy transformation
- Process of conversion of one form of energy into another
- Law of conservation of energy
o Total amount of energy will remain the same whether energy is transferred and/or transformed
 Kinetic energy
- Energy that an object has when it is in motion
- Very dependent on the object’s mass and velocity
o Velocity plays a bigger role
- If two objects move at the same speed but one is heavier, that object has the higher kinetic energy
- If two objects move at the same mass but one is faster, that object has the higher kinetic energy
2
1
- KE= mv
2
o Mass (m) (kg)
o Velocity/speed (v) (m/s)
 Potential energy
- Energy that is stored in a system
- Form of energy is due to the state, shape, or position of the system
- PE=mgh
o Mass (m) (kg)
o Gravitational acceleration (g) (m/s 2) (9.8 m/s 2)
o Height (h) (m/meter)
 Mechanical energy
- The sum of kinetic and potential energy
- Contributes a lot to the law of conservation of energy for it to work
- Form of energy is due to the state, shape, or position of the system
- ME=KE + PE
 Law of conservation of mechanical energy
 - States that the total amount of mechanical energy in a closed system remains constant unless acted
upon by an external force (friction, air resistance, etc.)

Lesson 2
Heat

Heat

 A form of energy that is transferred from one body to another

- Results in a difference in temperature
 Energy is transferred when two bodies at different temperatures are brought together from the hotter body
to the colder

Work

 The measure of energy — in physics — transfer that occurs when an object is moved over a distance by an
external force
- Part of which is applied in the direction of the displacement

Energy

 Ability to do work/transfer
- Heat and energy can be transferred to and from an object by doing work
 Can also be transferred as heat

Heat engines

 A device that takes in energy by heat and — operating in a cyclic

process — expels a fraction of that energy by means of work
 Weng
- Work done by the heat engine
 Qh
- Heat entering the engine
 Qc
- Energy leaving the engine
 Th
- Hot reservoir
 Tc
- Cold reservoir
 Often operate at around 30% to 50% efficiency
due to limitations
 Impossible to achieve 100% thermal efficiency
- Because some waste heat is always
produced in a heat engine

Efficiency

 A way of describing the amount of useful

output a process or machine can generate as a
percentage of input required to make it go
 Compares how much energy is used to do work versus how much is lost/wasted to the environment
 The more efficient the machine, the less energy wasted
 Lesson 3
Generation, Transmission, and Distribution of Electrical Energy

Electrical energy

 Movement of electrons that produce the so-called “electrical current”

- Produces electrical energy
Generation of electrical energy

 Electric power plant generates electricity from a source and transforms it into electric energy
 Has 3 components
- Turbine
o A shaft with rotating blades
- Generator
o Consists of powerful electromagnets surrounded by huge coils of electric wires
o Converts mechanical energy into electric energy by the rotation of either the
electromagnets/coils of wire by electromagnetic induction
- Transformer
o A device that raises or lowers the voltage of an electric source
Sources of energy

 Nuclear power plants

- Breaking apart uranium nuclei
transforms energy into thermal
energy
o Thermal energy
transforms water into
steam that spins the
turbine
- Does not release pollutants into
the air
- Produces nuclear waste that contains radioactive materials that can harm living organisms
 Hydroelectric power plants
- Most widely used renewable
energy is water
- A dam is built across a river
forming a reservoir to generate
electric energy from falling water
- The water’s potential energy
converts to kinetic energy as the
water passes through the tunnel
in the dam
- Does not release pollutants into
the air
- Dams can disturb the life cycle of
some living organisms
 Solar power plants
- Solar energy (radiant energy
from the sun) is a form of
renewable source of electricity
- An inexhaustible energy sources
 - Converted directly into electricity by solar cells
o Contain materials that transform energy into electrical energy when sunlight strikes the solar cell
 Biomass power plants
- Burned materials
from people such as
wood, leaves, and
many more to stay
warm and cook
food that comes
from animals and
plants are called
biomass
 Wind power plants
- Modern wind turbines convert
the kinetic energy in wind into
electrical energy
- Wind spins a propeller that is
connected to an electric
generator
- Wind turbines are practical only
in regions where the average
wind speed is more than 5 m/s
- A large area is necessary to
obtain as much electrical
energy
 Geothermal energy
- Thermal energy from inside the earth
- Comes from the decay of radioactive
nuclei deep inside the earth
- Produces underground pockets of hot
water and steam in some places
o Geothermal reservoirs
o Hot water and steam in the
reservoirs are piped to the
surface where they spin a
turbine attached to an
electrical generator

 Tidal power plants

- Turbines are placed in tidal streams in
most tidal energy generators
- Tidal streams
o A fast-flowing body of stream
created by tides
- Turbine
o Machine that takes energy
from a flow of fluid
 - Water is denser than air which means that tidal energy is more powerful than wind energy
- Tides are predictable and stable unlike wind
- Tides produce a steady and reliable stream of electricity when tidal generators are used

 Coal-fired power plants

- Produces pollutants into the air
- Burns coal to produce heat that turns water into steam which then turn turbines into a generator

Transmission of electrical energy

 Long transmission lines move electricity generated at the power lines to the substations
 Power loss also occurs because of resistance whenever electricity is transmitted
- Power companies use a step-up transformer to raise the voltage and reduce the current at the same time
to compensate
 The national grid is a network of power transmission lines that connect all power stations across the country
- Helps ensure the continuous supply of electricity

Distribution of electrical energy

 Final stage
 Involves the delivery of
electricity to consumers