| Energy
Conversion Efficiency
Energy
conversion are like Toast it's either to much or to little
but never perfect.
Energy
= Currency
Energy converts among various forms without any loss or gain.
Energy is the currency of changes, and money is the currency
of exchanges.
Heat
Most people know what heat is but the scientific term is very
difficult. We know heat flow from a hot place to a cold place,
but we have to be able to compare hot and cold. Thermodynamics,
kinetics, and potential are the properties of heat.
Kinetics
and Potential
Any change from kinetics to potential or the other way around
is an energy conversion. When anything falls, energy is converted
from potential to kinetic so when something is thrown up it
converts from kinetic to potential.
Potential to Kinetic
At the
top of a waterfall, water usually moves slowly. It has little
or no kinetic energy in it. As it goes over the fall the potential
energy is converted to kinetic energy. At the bottom of the
fall, the water has more kinetic energy because it is moving
much faster.
Pendulum
and ball
Energy is continually converted in a pendulum when it swings
back and forth. When each swing ends the pendulum reverses
direction like a ball thrown up in the air stops for an instant
and instantly move in the other direction. The pendulum has
no Kinetic energy at the end of the screen but it has Potential
energy because it is higher up than at the bottom of the swing.
 
|
