There are Two Types of Energy - in Many Forms

Despite all my nit-picking in the words above, most scientists and engineers find it acceptable and
useful to talk about chemical and electrical and mechanical and magnetic energy and others. They also
frequently describe internal energy as heat or "heat content" or "quantity of heat" as some of the older
texts call it.
ut it is helpful to understand why some people say that all those other forms of energy are really
types of kinetic energy or potential energy being "expressed" in different ways.
Electrical energy, for example, is the flow of charged particles called electrons or ions. !hen
electrons are flowing through a wire or through hundreds of feet of air "an event we call lightning# it is
because they are being "pushed" or forced by an electrical field. This field is caused by a difference in
electrical charge. $ force is exerted on the electrons and they move. !ork is done on the charged
particles. $ force is pushing them through a distance. $ctually, they are hopping from atom to atom, being
pushed by an electromotive force. !hile the electrons are moving they contain kinetic energy. %o at the
itsy-bitsy atomic level electricity is a form of kinetic energy.
Mechanical energy is the useful way we sometimes refer to things like gears, engines, locomotives
pulling trains, canon balls flying through the air, or other examples of energy in mechanical devices. ut,
of course, by now you see that all these moving parts contain kinetic energy. They are really &ust different
modes of kinetic energy - the energy contained in a moving mass. 'n order to get these various ob&ects
spinning or rolling, a force has to be exerted. !ork is a force acting through a distance, so the way they
get moving and keep moving is by having work done on them. !ork is an energy transfer process.
Chemical energy is another term we use a lot. This is more vague. !e say things like, "during
combustion, chemical energy is released". (mmm. The term chemical energy refers to energy that is
stored in molecular bonds, the forces that hold molecules together. %o releasing chemical energy must
mean the energy is finally free from its molecular bonds. 'n the more general sense, of course, it is
potential energy. %tored energy, or energy that is "waiting to happen", or that has the "potential" to
happen, or that can happen but hasn)t yet, is rather sensibly called potential energy.
$s described in the photosynthesis section, carbohydrate molecules, used by living organisms for
food "and other things#, store energy in their atomic bonds. *iving cells release this stored energy
relatively slowly by a process called respiration. %ome of the stored potential energy becomes the kinetic
energy of cell processes and muscle movement and some of it becomes internal energy "often called
heat#. ut now you know ' should have said, "some of stored energy is transferred by the heat process
into the internal energy of the cell. The cell is "warmed up" by increasing the average energy of the cell
molecules. +ventually, of course, all of it becomes internal energy and then flows by heat transfer into the
air and ob&ects around the organism.
+nough examples. !e get the idea. ,aybe you can think about some other forms. -nless you are
writing a thermodynamics text book it is probably okay to say there are more than two forms of energy
and to use the terms heat and work as if they are a type of energy. %o when you find me doing it in this
web site, don)t write me a nit-picky e-mail telling me heat is a process, not a form of energy. ' know. '
know.
Thermal Energy (side note added later)
opping around in various text books and resources is the fairly common term "thermal energy". This
seems generally to be used as another term for internal energy or heat content. .ne of my thermo books
does outright propose this term as a way to avoid using heat as a type of energy. $ccording to this book,
it was tried in the past but never quite caught on. ' still like the idea, and so have started using the term
interchangeably in new pages on this site. %o in this web site when you see the term thermal energy it
means the type of internal energy that is usually called heat as described above. 't the short run it may
add to your confusion, but in the long run you)ll be the wiser for it. Do you buy that/
Forms of Energy Basics
What Is Energy?
Energy makes change possible. We use it to do things for us. It moves cars along the road and
boats over the water. It bakes a cake in the oven and keeps ice frozen in the freezer. It plays our
favorite songs on the radio and lights our homes. Energy is needed for our bodies to grow and it
allows our minds to think.
Scientists define energy as the ability to do work. Modern civilization is possible because we
have learned how to change energy from one form to another and use it to do work for us and to
live more comfortably.
Forms of Energy
Energy is found in different forms including light, heat, chemical, and motion. here are many
forms of energy, but they can all be put into two categories! potential and kinetic.
Potential Energy
"otential energy is stored energy and the energy
of position # gravitational energy. here are
several forms of potential energy.
Kinetic Energy
$inetic energy is motion # of waves,
molecules, ob%ects, substances, and ob%ects.
Chemical Energy is energy stored in the bonds
of atoms and molecules. &iomass, petroleum,
natural gas, and coal are e'amples of stored
chemical energy. (hemical energy is converted
to thermal energy when we burn wood in a
fireplace or burn gasoline in a car)s engine.
Mechanical Energy is energy stored in ob%ects
by tension. (ompressed springs and stretched
rubber bands are e'amples of stored mechanical
energy.
Nuclear Energy is energy stored in the nucleus
of an atom # the energy that holds the nucleus
Radiant Energy is electromagnetic energy that
travels in transverse waves. *adiant energy
includes visible light, '+rays, gamma rays and
radio waves. ,ight is one type of radiant energy.
Sunshine is radiant energy, which provides the
fuel and warmth that make life on Earth
possible.
Thermal Energy, or heat, is the vibration and
movement of the atoms and molecules within
substances. -s an ob%ect is heated up, its atoms
and molecules move and collide faster.
.eothermal energy is the thermal energy in the
together. /ery large amounts of energy can be
released when the nuclei are combined or split
apart. 0uclear power plants split the nuclei of
uranium atoms in a process called fission. he
sun combines the nuclei of hydrogen atoms in a
process called fusion.
ra!itational Energy is energy stored in an
ob%ect)s height. he higher and heavier the
ob%ect, the more gravitational energy is stored.
When you ride a bicycle down a steep hill and
pick up speed, the gravitational energy is being
converted to motion energy. 1ydropower is
another e'ample of gravitational energy, where
the dam 2piles2 up water from a river into a
reservoir.
Electrical Energy is what is stored in a battery,
and can be used to power a cell phone or start a
car. Electrical energy is delivered by tiny
charged particles called electrons, typically
moving through a wire. ,ightning is an e'ample
of electrical energy in nature, so powerful that it
is not confined to a wire.
Earth.
Motion Energy is energy stored in the
movement of ob%ects. he faster they move, the
more energy is stored. It takes energy to get an
ob%ect moving and energy is released when an
ob%ect slows down. Wind is an e'ample of
motion energy. - dramatic e'ample of motion is
a car crash, when the car comes to a total stop
and releases all its motion energy at once in an
uncontrolled instant.
"ound is the movement of energy through
substances in longitudinal
3compression4rarefaction5 waves. Sound is
produced when a force causes an ob%ect or
substance to vibrate # the energy is transferred
through the substance in a wave. ypically, the
energy in sound is far less than other forms of
energy.
Con!erting #ne Form of Energy Into $nother
2Energy efficiency2 is the amount of useful energy you get from any type of system. - perfectly
energy+efficient machine would change all the energy put in it into useful work. In reality,
converting one form of energy into another form always involves a loss of useable energy.
In fact, most energy transformations are not very efficient. he human body is a good e'ample.
6our body is like a machine, and the fuel for your machine is food. 7ood gives you the energy to
move, breathe, and think. &ut your body isn)t very efficient at converting food into useful work.
6our body is less than 89 efficient most of the time. he rest of the energy is lost as heat. 6ou
can really feel that heat when you e'ercise:
eneral Characteristics of $gricultural% Industrial% and Information $ge Energy
Resources
Agricultural Age Energy Sources:
Renewable energy sources: solar, wind, water, humans/slavery, animals, etc.
Industrial Age Energy Sources:
Non-renewable, fossil fuels (oil, natural gas, coal) and nuclear fission (uranium and
plutonium fuels). hese fuels pollute more, and once e!tracted from the earth, they are
gone.
Information Age Energy Sources:
"ventual return (once fossil fuels are e!hausted) to renewable energy sources (solar,
wind, tidal, geothermal, ocean thermal, and biomass)--as in agricultural age, but using
more sophisticated technologies to tap these energy sources# also nuclear fusion (from
fusing of hydrogen atoms in water) once the technology is perfected in future# lag in
transition to these alternative energy sources--perhaps into ne!t age.
Information&'ata on M$($)"I$N Energy "ources * Malaysia is in an
industrial age+ The ha!e Petroleum ,roducts as -ell as ,almoil% natural
gas% tin% tim.er%co,,er% iron ore%and .au/ite
Conclusions on Malaysia 0Whether Primarily $gricultural% Industrial% or
Information $ge Re* Energy "ources1* Malaysia is in Industrial age+ Their
energy sources is rich and are a.le to e/,ortto other countries