Energy Stores
Physics: AQA GCSE Higher, topic 1.1.1
Stores of Energy
Energy can be stored in a system in lots of different ways. Some stores of energy are:
Kinetic store
- The energy stored by an object’s movement.
Gravitational potential store
- The energy stored in objects raised above the Earth’s surface.
- This energy exists because of the Earth’s gravitational field.
Chemical store
- The energy stored by the chemical bonds between atoms.
Elastic potential store
- The energy stored when an object is being stretched, compressed or squashed.
%201.1.3.2%20-%20Rutherford%20and%20Bohr_s%20atomic%20structure,w_800.png)
Nuclear store
- The energy stored in the nucleus of an atom.
- The energy in the nuclear store can be released by radioactive decay.
Internal (thermal) store
- The internal store of energy is the sum of the kinetic energy stored in the particles of an object and the chemical energy stored in chemical bonds between particles in the object.