What is Energy?

Energy Problem - 2
• What is energy?
• What units do you measure it by?
– For example, length is measured in metres
– mass in kilogrammes
• What is the second law of thermodynamics?
– 熱力学第二法則…とは？
• What is the first law of thermodynamics?
– 熱力学第一法則…とは？
 Many ways to measure energy!
• Joule (SI)
• kWh – kilowatt hour (Electricity)
• calorie (Food)
• litre (Oil)
• m³ - cubic metre (of gas ）
• Ah - amp hours (your phone battery)
• BTU (British Thermal Units)
• eV – electron volts
• e=mc²!
• Nm – newton metre
• Kg m2/s2
 James
Prescott
Joule

• (1818-1889)
First law

heat is work

energy is
conserved
 Definition and units
定義　　　物理単位
• One joule is the energy needed to move one
newton one metre
 Dimensional analysis
次元解析
Energy = Force x Distance
J=N. m
= kg m / s2 . m
= kg m2 / s2
 Before Joule
• “Caloric”

• heat is a substance

(hence “calorie”)
 What is heat?
• Heat ≠ stuff
• Heat ≠ temperature
 Which is hotter?
• 1 litre of hot air
• 1 litre of hot water

• (“hotter” = “higher temperature”)

 Which has more heat?
• 1 litre of hot air
• 1 litre of hot water

• If you want to warm your bed, which would

you use?
– Hot water bottle
– Hot air bottle
 How many times more?
• How many times more heat in a litre of hot
water than a litre of hot air?
 Heat capacity
熱容量
• energy per unit per change in temperature

• energy = specific heat capacity x mass x

temperature difference
Q = c m ΔT
• energy = volumetric heat capacity x volume x
temperature difference
Q = cv V ΔT
 Water and Air
• Specific heat capacity
• Water: 4.2 kJ / kg K
– kilo joules per kilogram kelvin

Capital letter
• Volumetric heat capacity = somebody’s name
大文字
• Air: 1.2 kJ / m3 K = 人名
– kilo joules per cubic metre kelvin
William Thomson,
Lord Kelvin

1824-1907
 Temperature difference
• hot = 80 degrees centigrade
• room temperature = 20 degrees centigrade

• temperature difference = 60 kelvin

 Water
• density = 1 kg / l
• energy = specific heat capacity x mass x temperature
difference

• energy = 4.2 x 1 x 60

(dimension check: )

• = 252 kJ
 Air
• energy = volumetric heat capacity x volume x
temperature difference

• energy = 1.2 x 0.001 x 60

(dimension check: )

• = .072 kJ = 72 Joules
 Answer:
• The water has over 3000 times more heat!
Accuracy and Precision
Which is more accurate?

Which is more precise?

 Accuracy or precision?
Lots of precision
• π = 3.1425976433172698

• Pi is a bit over three 100% accurate!

– Which is more accurate?

– Which is more precise?
 π ≈ 3.14159
• Usually one significant figure is enough (π ≈ 3)

• Precision ≠ Accuracy
Specific heat capacity of water
Density of water
Density of air
 Significant figures
• 4 = 3.5 to 4.5 = 4 ± 10%
• 4.2 = 4.15 to 4.25 = 4.2 ± 1%
• 4.18 = 4.175 to 4.185 = 4.18 ± 0.1%
 Accuracy and precision
• Know how accurate your numbers are

• Know how accurate they need to be

• Don’t use more precision than accuracy

 What forms of energy are there?

• Mechanical • Electric
– Kinetic • Electro magnetic
– Potential – Radiation
• Thermal • Magnetic
• Chemical
– Ionic
• Nuclear
 James Watt
• (1736-1819)
Power!
 What is power?
• The time rate at which work is done or energy
emitted or transferred
– (Mirriam Webster, meaning 6c)
 Energy and power
• Power is movement or change of energy

• One watt is one joule per second

• W=J/s
• =1Nm/s

• one Newton one metre per second

 Energy or power?

• A shower • An air conditioner

• A car • Fat
• An oil tanker • Muscle
• A piece of wood • Sunshine
• A battery • A reservoir
• A solar panel • Wind
 Power and Energy units
• 1 kW = 1000 W
– Power
• 1 kWh = 1 kW for 1 hour
– Energy
 1kWh =
• 3,600,000 Joules (J)
• 860 kilo calories (kCal)
• 22,500,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 electron
volts (eV)
 How much energy do they have?
• One litre of paraffin
• One mobile phone battery
• One rice ball
• One litre of hot water
• One gramme of uranium

– in order please!
 1kWh =
• 100 Watts for 10 hours
• 0.1 litres of paraffin 　
• 0.1 m³ of gas
• 5 rice balls
• 20 litres of hot water
• 200 mobile phone batteries
• 0.04 mg uranium 235
First law of thermodynamics (1847)
• Heat = work = energy

• Energy is conserved
 How does heat move?
• Conduction 伝導
– Moving through a substance
• Convection 対流
– In a moving fluid
• Radiation 放射
– In electromagnetic waves
 Which kind of heat transfer?
• Across a room
• Through a wall
• From a space ship
• In a kettle
• In your clothes
• On a flat roof on a cloudless night
• From a fire
 Which way does it move?
• From hot to cold
Nicolas Sadi
Carnot

1796-1832
 Second law of thermodynamics (1850)

• Heat goes from hot to cold

• entropy only increases
 Which uses the most power?
• The lights in this room
• The projector
• The air conditioner
• A shower
• A kettle
• You climbing the stairs to get here?
– in order please!
• How much do they use?
 What is a low energy building?
• A building that uses little energy
 References
• Data from engineeringtoolbox.com