Physics GCSE: Energy Transfers

Types of Energy Transfers

Energy

Energy is needed for us to do work. Energy is measured in Joules, J or kilojoules, kJ.

Many scientists believe that there is a certain amount of energy in the universe. As energy cannot be made this energy is just constantly moving around the universe being changed into different forms.

The Earth receives almost all its energy from the sun, but much of it leaves the Earth's atmosphere again and is lost in space. 

Types of energy

Although energy cannot be made or destroyed it can be changed into different forms.

There are many types of energy, but the ones listed below are the most common:

• Kinetic energy is a more scientific name for movement energy.
• Potential energy is a more scientific name for stored energy.
• Potential energy can be divided into three types:

Changing energy

There are many different ways for energy to change its form. We use Sankey Diagrams to show energy transfers:

The bigger the arrow is the larger the amount of that type of energy.

In the following diagram drag the correct energy labels to the appropriate arrows.

Values for energy are often added to the diagrams.

Always make sure that the total amount of energy coming out is equal to the energy put in!