GCSE Physics · Edexcel 1PH0 · Topic 3A
Energy stores and transfers
Key points
- The main energy stores are kinetic, gravitational potential, elastic potential, thermal, chemical, nuclear, magnetic and electrostatic.
- Energy is transferred between stores mechanically (by forces), electrically, by heating or by radiation.
- Kinetic energy: . Doubling the speed gives four times the kinetic energy.
- Change in gravitational potential energy: .
- In a closed system the total energy stays the same. For a falling object (ignoring air resistance) the loss in GPE equals the gain in KE.
- Energy flow (Sankey) diagrams show useful and wasted transfers; arrow widths are proportional to the amount of energy.
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Energy is a way of keeping track of what can happen in a system. Thinking in terms of stores and transfers lets you explain any process, from a falling apple to a kettle boiling, and calculate how fast or how high things can go.
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