The Force of Moving

Water
Chapter 8 Section 3
Work and Energy
Energy- the ability to do work or cause change
Potential energy- energy that is stored and waiting
to be used later
Kinetic energy- the energy an object has due to its
motion
As gravity pulls water down a slope, the water’s
potential energy changes to kinetic energy that
can do work
Energy is transferred from one object to another
(water to mills; kinetic to mechanical)
Kinetic energy of a river also moves sediment and
erodes banks and valleys
How Water Erodes and
Carries Sediment
During water erosion, water moves sediment
including soil, rock, clay, and sand
Most sediment washes into rivers as a result of
mass movement and runoff
Other sediment erodes from the bottom or sides of
the river
Abrasion- the wearing away of rock by a grinding
action that occurs when particles of sediment in
flowing water bump into the stream bed
repeatedly
Abrasion grinds sediment into smaller and smaller
particles
Sediments also chip away rock of the stream bed,
making the stream’s channel wider and deeper

Load- the amount of sediment that a river
carries
Large sediment falls to the bottom and moves
by rolling and sliding
Water carries some sediment
Other sediment dissolves completely
Erosion and Sediment Load
 A river’s slope, volume of flow, and the shape of its stream bed all
affect how fast the river flows and how much sediment it can
erode
 Slope- the steeper the slope of a river, the faster the speed of the
river
 As speed of a river increases, its load and power to erode increases
 The more water flow through a river, its speed increases and its
power to erode
 Stream bed shape affects the amount of friction between the water
and the stream bed
 The deeper the river, the less friction, and the faster the flow of the
river
 Shallow rivers have more friction due to more contact of the water
with the streambed
 Rough streambeds create more friction and reduce a river’s speed
 Turbulence- type of movement in which water moves every which
way
 Friction and turbulence slow a river’s speed
 Water flows faster near the center of the river than along its sides
 Deposition occurs along the sides of a river, where water moves
Section Review
 How can moving water on Earth’s surface do work?
 As gravity pulls water down a slope, the water’s
potential energy changes to kinetic energy that can do work
 How does a river collect sediment?
 Most sediment washes or falls into a river as a result of
mass movement and runoff. Other sediment erodes from the
bottom or sides of a river.
 What are 3 factors that affect a river’s sediment load?
 Slope, volume of flow, and streambed shape
 Describe three ways that sediment moves in a river.
 Large sediment moves by rolling or sliding along the
streambed. Smaller sediment moves when water lifts it up
and carries it downstream. Some sediment is also carried as
dissolved sediment in solution.
 What effect does increased slope have on a river’s speed and
sediment load?
 As slope increases, so does a river’s speed. And as a
river’s speed increases, so does its sediment load