Introduction


What happens when an energy conversion occurs and it is not 100% efficient?

CS3.1 campfire
What form of energy is almost always released when an energy conversion occurs? A campfire keeps you warm on a cold night. The human body maintains a constant temperature through its body processes. Your hands get warmer as you rub them vigorously together. What do all of these situations have in common? Heat is being given off during all of these energy transformations.

In this section, we will look at the concepts of conserving energy and heat transfer to investigate, describe, and predict the efficiency of energy changes in technological systems.

  Targets


By the end of this section, you will be able to


CS3.2 old diesel engine

  1. describe current and past technologies used to transform energy from one form to another and identify that energy transfer technologies produce changes that can be measured in a system.

CS3.3 hydrogen fuel cell

  1. describe, in terms of the thermodynamic laws, the energy transformations occurring in devices and systems and identify that there is a limit to the amount of useful energy.

CS3.4 hydroelectric dam in Montreal, Canada

  1. explain, through calculations, efficiency as a measure of the useful work compared to the total energy put into an energy conversion process or device and analyze the efficiency of energy conversions and devices.
CS3.5 gas plant in Cochrane, Alberta

  1. compare the energy content of fuels used in thermal power plants in Alberta and explain the need for efficient energy conversions to protect our environment.