Lesson 1 Energy Flow in Technological Systems
Introduction
Did you know that energy exists in many forms? Did you know that we have learned to use these many forms to our advantage?
C1.1 Image of Earth from space at night
By the end of this lesson, you will learn many energy forms and how they
work for us. We will explore different natural and technological systems that use energy and energy conversions. It is important to understand how to detect the presence of energy, predict energy conversions, and describe different forms of
energy. With all this knowledge, you can understand how things
work and why!
Targets
By the end of this lesson, you will be able to
- illustrate, by use of examples from natural and technological systems, that energy exists in a variety of forms (e.g., mechanical, chemical, thermal, nuclear, solar)
- analyze and illustrate how the concept of energy developed from observations of heat and mechanical devices
- describe the evidence for the presence of energy; e.g., observable physical and chemical changes and changes in motion, shape, or temperature
- define kinetic energy as energy due to motion and define potential energy as energy due to relative position
- describe chemical energy as a form of potential energy
- define gravitational potential energy as the work against gravity