ENERGY, WORK & POWER

ENERGY
Energy is the ability or capacity to do work. The SI unit of energy is the Joule (J). Energy exists in
various forms. These include:
(a) Kinetic energy
Energy found in moving objects

Examples of sources of kinetic energy:

 moving car
 a ball rolling on the ground
 a person walking/running
(b) Heat or Thermal Energy
Kinetic energy of particles in matter i.e hot means fast moving particles.

Examples of sources of Heat energy:

 fire wood
 heater
 sun
 lighted buld
(c) Potential energy
The energy an object has because of the height it has been moved, its chemical composition or
because of its shape/size. Forms of potential energy include
(i) Gravitational Potential energy- the energy an object has because of the
height it has been moved.

Example of sources of Gravitational Pontential energy:

 Fruit on a tree
(ii) Chemical Potential energy- the energy an object has because of its chemical
composition.

Examples of sources of Chemical energy:

 Food, coal, battery, petrol, oil, trees

(iii) Elastic or strain energy- the energy an object has because of its shape/size.
Examples of sources of elastic potential energy:
 Stretched rubber band
 Stretched spring
(d) Light energy
The energy given off by luminous and non luminous objects
Examples of sources of light energy:
 Fire, lighted bulb, lighted candle, sun.
(e) Electrical energy
Energy transported by electric charges in conductors.
(f) Sound energy
Energy found in vibrating objects.
Examples of sources of sound energy:
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 Vibrating drum, vibrating guitar strings, vocal cords

Other forms are: solar, wind, tidal/wave, geothermal and nuclear.

Principle of Energy Conservation

It states that energy can neither be created nor destroyed, but can only change from one form to
another during an energy conversion.

Efficiency
The quality of a system to convert one form of energy to another without wastage. During
energy conversions, some of the energy is lost (i.e it is not changed into a useful form), heat
energy accounts for most of the energy lost. Therefore, energy conversions are never 100%
efficient.

Energy conversions

1. A person speaking into a microphone.

Sound energy → Electrical energy
2. Listening to a loud speaker.
Electrical energy → Sound energy.
3. Hydroelectric Power Station.
Gravitational Potential Energy → Kinetic Energy → Electrical energy
Sources of Energy
Sources of energy can be divided into two groups.

Renewable Sources of Energy are those sources which can be replaced once used and are generally
not polluting.

Non-Renewable Sources of Energy are those sources that cannot be replaced once used and are
generally polluting.

Major sources of energy in Botswana

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Energy Source Use advantages Disadvantages

1) Solar Energy Botswana enjoys a lot of Abundant  Expensive equipment
(Renewable) sunshine throughout the  Cheap  No sunshine during cloud
year. Solar water heaters Environmental friendly cover.
are used in some
households. Photovoltaic
power can be generated
from solar panels fitted
with solar cells
2) Coal Used for generating  Abundant  Air pollution
(non renewable) electricity as well as  Cheap  Coal mining scars the
heating and cooking landscape
Releases CO2 which causes
global warming
Biomass Widely used for cooking Abundant  collection of fire wood leads to
(Firewood, cow and heating.  Cheap deforestation
dung, charcoal,  Release carbon dioxide leading
food) to global warming.
(Renewable)
Wind Due to the flat terrain,  Cheap  No wind at times
(Renewable) there is not much wind in Environmental friendly
Botswana. Windmills are
used to pump water out
of boreholes

.
Sources of energy in other countries

Energy Use Advantages Disadvantages

Source
Nuclear Used for generating  Little fuel is needed to  High building costs
power electricity produce a lot of electricity. Expensive equipment
(non (Only 7 kg of uranium fuel Expensive maintenance
renewable) are needed to produce 60  Puts living things at risk of radioactive
000 W of electricity per emissions due to the possibility of
month) nuclear meltdown.
 Does not release toxic  Requires expert skills.
gases into the atmosphere. Waste products pose storage problems
and can be used to make atomic
weapons.
Hydroelectric Water is collected/stored Does not cause much  Limited number of suitable sites to
power behind huge dams on pollution build the dam.
(renewable) high ground such as  High building costs
mountains. The water is  The reservoir floods huge valleys which
released through sluices drowns animal and kills plants thus

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and its GPe is changed to impacting on bio-diversity.

Ke which to drive  Huge numbers of people have to be
turbines for generating relocated in order to accommodate the
electricity. reservoir.
 Water loses its quality due to
hydroelectric processes.
 The weight of the water in the reservoir
causes seismic activity.
Requires expert skills
Crude oil & Used for generating  Abundant  Their combustion releases greenhouse
natural gas electricity, fuel for motor Cheap gases into the atmosphere which leads
(non vehicles and industrial to global warming.
renewable) machines.  Causes water pollution
Accidents during their mining and
transportation causes’ water and air
pollution.
Geothermal Heat energy from  Cheap  Not available in many locations.
energy radioactive reactions in  Does not cause much  High cost of drilling deep into the earth.
( renewable) the earth’s core escapes pollution Requires expert skills.
to the surface through  Does not require much
vents on the crust in the structural development.
form of steam. This
energy can be tapped and
used for generating
electricity and heating
homes.
Bio fuels These are alcohol based  Environmentally friendly  Farming large amounts of crops is
(renewable) fuels produced from as waste products can be expensive
biomass through used to energy.  Converting the bio mass to bio fuels is
fermentation, pyrolisis  If fermentation and expensive.
and anaerobic digestion. pyrolisis are used there is  Food plants are used to process biofuels
They are used for little or no CO2 released and this could lead to food shortages
generating electricity and into atmosphere. and/or increase in food prices.
fuel for motor vehicles.  abundant  Pyrolysis requires huge amounts of
heat.
 Direct combustion could lead to air
pollution.

Socio-Economic and Environmental Impacts of using energy sources

As shown in the table above the use of most energies sources has several disadvantages. Before any
energy source is used it is important to determine its socio-economic and environmental impacts. As
such there is need for an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) study to be carried out before any
energy source is utilized

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Conservation of energy
Energy which takes a form which is not useful at a particular time is said to have been wasted or lost.
Preventing this from happening is called energy conservation. This is achieved through diligent use of
available energy sources.

ENERGY CONVERSION/CHANGES

Since energy cannot be created nor be destroyed but is conserved, the following examples shows how
energy is conserved:

Examples of energy conversions

1. write down the energy changes that takes place on the following examples;

(a) switching on electrical bulb

answer: Electrical energy light energy + heat energy

(b) a person running up the hill.

answer:Chemical energy kinetic energy gravitational potential E + Heat Energy

(c) lighting a candle,

answer: Chemical energy light energy + Heat energy

Mechanical Energies
These are energies associated with the position and motion of an object. Mechanical energy of a
system is the sum of the gravitational potential energy and the kinetic energy of the system.

KINETIC ENERGY
The kinetic energy of a body of mass m, travelling with a velocity v, is given by

Examples :

1. A car of mass 1500kg is travelling with a constant velocity of 20m/s. calculate its kinetic energy.

ANSWER:

m = 1500kg v = 20 m/s
therefore;

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= 750kg * 400m2/s2
= 300 000kg.m2/s2 or 300 000 J

NOTE:
1 J = 1 kg.m2/s2
Questions:

2. A fruit of mass 200g falls from a tree at height of 5m. taking g = 10m/s2

(a) calculate the velocity that the fruit will strike the ground with.

(b) calculate the maximum kinetic energy gained by the fruit just before it strikes the ground

(c) write down energy changes that takes place when the fruit fall to the ground and make a popping
sound when it strikes the ground.

GRAVITATIONAL POTENTIAL ENERGY

The gravitational potential energy of a body of mass m, which is moved through a height h, is given
by
NOTE: g = 10m/s2
Example:
1. A boy of mass 50kg runs up the stairs to a height of 3 meters above the ground.
(a) Calculate the energy gained by the boy at the top of the stairs.
Answer: since he is above the ground, that means he gained G.P.E
GPe = m  g  h
Therefore; GPe = 50kg  10m/s2  3 m
= 1500kg.m2/s2 OR 1500 J

Gpe-----Ke Transformations/changes

Gain in GPe = Loss in Ke

Loss in GPe = Gain in Ke
∆ GPe = ∆ Ke

Classwork

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1. A 5 kg rocket has 500J of kinetic energy. Find the velocity of the rocket.
2. A 100g steel ball is 1.8m above the floor. What is the amount of gravitational potential
energy possessed by the ball?
3. A 200 g ball is shot vertically upwards to a height of 80 metres.
Calculate
(i) Kinetic energy of the ball as it left the ground.
(ii) The velocity with which it leaves the ground
(iii) Time taken to reach the height
4. A 2 kg stone is dropped from a tower and reaches the ground after 2 seconds. Calcultate
the GPe of the stone before it is dropped.
5. A lamp is 60% efficient, if the lamp gives out 400J of light energy.
(i) How much electrical energy was it supplied with?
(ii) How much energy was wasted as heat?

WORK

Work is the transfer of energy. It is measured as a product of the force applied and the distance
moved.

Work done = applied force x distance moved

POWER
This is the rate at which work is done or the rate at which energy is transferred.

Classwork
6. A boy whose weight is 600 N runs up a flight of stairs 10m high in 12 seconds. Calculate the
power he develops in climbing the stairs.

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7. A donkey pulls a cart with a force of 400N and takes 10 seconds to cover a distance of 100m.
What is the power developed by the donkey in pulling the cart?

8. How long does it take an electric motor rated 800 W to complete 4kJ of work in lifting a load.

9. A machine changes 5 kJ of electrical energy into kinetic energy in half a minute. What is the
power rating of the machine?

10. A hydroelectric dam generates 10 000 W of electricity every 2 minutes. To achieve this 3 000
kg of water falls down the dam to the turbines every 2 minutes.
If the height of the dam is 60 m, calculate
(i) amount of energy in the water as it reaches the turbines.
(ii) amount of electrical energy generated by the dam.
(iii) efficiency of the power station.

Physics Notes: Energy, Work and Power leemok productions 2011©