3.1.2

Energy Transfers

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Energy Transfers

Energy can be transferred from its store via its pathway. All energy transfers follow the conservation of energy. Energy transfers can be represented as Sankey diagrams.

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Conservation of energy

  • The conservation of energy states:
    • Energy cannot be created or destroyed. It is just transferred from one form to another.
  • The starting amount of energy will be the same as the energy at the end after it has been transferred.
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Energy transfers

  • Energy is transferred from its store via a pathway to another store.
  • No energy is lost or gained during the transfer.
  • Energy will be transferred into a useful energy store as well as, on some occasions, a wasted energy store.
  • Wasted energy is mostly transferred to the surroundings as thermal energy.
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Sankey diagrams

  • We can use Sankey diagrams to represent energy transfers in a system.
  • They show an input store and an output store. An arrow shows the pathway.
  • The thicker the arrow block, the more energy is transferred.
  • The input store must equal the total output stores.

Jump to other topics

1Biology

1.1Cells, Tissues & Organs

1.2Reproduction & Variation

1.3Ecological Relationships & Classification

1.4Digestion & Nutrition

1.5Plants & Photosynthesis

1.6Biological Systems & Processes

2Chemistry

2.1Particles

2.2Chemical Reactions

2.3Atoms, Elements, Compounds

2.4The Periodic Table

2.5Materials & the Earth

2.6Reactivity

2.7Energetics

2.8Properties of Materials

3Physics

3.1Energy

3.2Forces & Motion

3.3Waves

3.4Electricity & Magnetism

3.5Matter

3.6Space Physics

4Thinking Scientifically

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