Section 2: Using Electrical Energy

Electrical energy can be transformed to radiant energy, thermal energy,

and mechanical energy.
K W L
What I Know What I Want to Find Out What I Learned
Essential Questions
• How is electrical energy transformed into thermal energy?
• How are electrical energy and power related?
• How is electrical energy transmitted with as little thermal energy transformation as
possible?

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Vocabulary
Review New
• thermal energy • superconductor
• kilowatt-hour

Copyright © McGraw-Hill Education Using Electrical Energy

What is Electrical
power ?

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY

How is electric power calculated?
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Electrical Energy
Providing Electrical Energy
• Power is the rate at which energy is delivered. When consumers pay their home
electric bills, they pay for electric energy, not power.
• A kilowatt-hour is equal to 1000 watts delivered continuously for 3600 s (1 h),
or 3.6×106 J.

Copyright © McGraw-Hill Education Using Electrical Energy

What quantity does the electric company use
for billing?
• electric company bills your family for the
number of kilowatt hours (kWh) of energy it
uses.
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H.W
Electrical Energy, Resistance, and Power
• Energy that is supplied to a circuit can be used in many different ways.
• Motors convert electric energy to mechanical energy.
• Lamps change electric energy into radiant energy.
• Hot plates convert electrical energy into thermal energy.
• All devices convert some electrical energy into thermal energy.
• Current moving through a resistor causes it to heat up because flowing
electrons bump into the atoms in the resistor.
• These collisions increase the atoms’ kinetic energy and, thus, the temperature
of the resistor.
• Household appliances act like resistors when they are in a circuit.

Copyright © McGraw-Hill Education Using Electrical Energy

Electrical Energy, Resistance, and Power
• When charge (q) moves through a resistor, its potential difference is reduced by
an amount (ΔV). The energy change is represented by qV.
• Thus power dissipated by a resistor is P = qV/t. Recalling that
I = q/t, power dissipated by a resistor can be written as

Power

• The last two parts of this expression are the result of substituting
ΔV = I R and I = ΔV/R.
• A superconductor is a material with zero resistance.
• There is no restriction of current in superconductors, so there is no potential
difference (ΔV) across them.
• Because the power that is dissipated in a conductor is given by the product I ΔV,
a superconductor can conduct electricity without loss of energy.

Copyright © McGraw-Hill Education Using Electrical Energy

Electrical Energy, Resistance, and Power
SOLVE FOR THE UNKNOWN
Use with Example Problem 3. • Use the relationship among current,
Problem potential difference, and resistance.
A water heater operates at 240 V, and the
resistance of its heating element is 12 Ω.
How much current does it demand, and how
much thermal energy will it produce in 30 • Use the relationship among energy,
minutes? current, resistance, and time.

Response
SKETCH AND ANALYZE THE PROBLEM
• List the knowns and unknowns.
KNOWN UNKNOWN
ΔV = 240 V I=? EVALUATE THE ANSWER
• The units of energy (joules) are correct.
R = 12 Ω E=?
t = 30 min = 1800 s

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Providing Electrical Energy
• Energy often must be transmitted over long distances to reach homes and
industries and it is desirable that the transmission occur with as little loss to
thermal energy as possible.
• To reduce this loss, either the current (I ) or the resistance (R) must be reduced.
• Because the loss of energy is proportional to the square of the current in the
conductors, it is more important to keep the current in the transmission lines
low.
• The current is reduced without the power being
reduced by an increase in the voltage.
Some long-distance lines use
voltages of more than
500,000 V.

Copyright © McGraw-Hill Education Using Electrical Energy

Review
Essential Questions
• How is electrical energy transformed into thermal energy?
• How are electrical energy and power related?
• How is electrical energy transmitted with as little thermal energy transformation as
possible?

Vocabulary
• superconductor • kilowatt-hour

Copyright © McGraw-Hill Education Using Electrical Energy