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Energy Vocabulary
Forms of Energy
Term | Definition |
---|---|
energy | the ability to do work |
kinetic energy | the energy of motion |
potential energy | the energy of shape, position, or stored energy |
gravitational potential energy | the energy due to an object's position above Earth's surface |
mechanical energy | the total energy of motion and position of an object |
thermal energy | the total energy of the particles (KE) that make up an object |
chemical energy | the energy of a compound that changes as it's atoms are rearranged to form new compounds, bonds broken and reformed |
electrical energy | the energy of moving electrons |
sound energy | the energy caused by an objects vibrations |
light energy | the energy produced by the virbrations of electrically charged particles |
nuclear energy | the energy related to changes inside the nucleus of an atom |
Joule | the unit for energy and work |
energy conversion | a change of one form of energy into another |
energy efficiency | a comparison of the amount of energy before a conversion with the amount of useful energy after a conversion |
law of conservation of energy | energy can be neither created nor destroyed |
closed system | a well-defined group of objects that transfer energy between one another |
perpetual motion machine | a machine that runs forever without any additional energy added |