Essential Understandings
Learning Set 1:
Any moving object has kinetic energy.
An object’s kinetic energy increases as its speed and/or its mass increases.
Any elevated object has gravitational energy.
An object’s gravitational energy increases as its elevation and/or its mass increases.
An object’s elastic energy increases as its deformation and/or its rigidity increases.
Learning Set 2:
Energy can be converted/transformed from one type to another.
Any deformed rigid object has elastic energy.
Energy can be transferred between systems.
Energy cannot be created or destroyed. If some energy appears to be missing, it has either been transformed to a type that is not readily apparent or has been transferred to another system.
Every object has thermal energy.
An object’s thermal energy increases as its temperature and/or its mass increases.
An object’s temperature increases as the nanoscopic particles of which it is composed move faster.
Sound is associated with the coordinated back-and-forth motion of particles.
When an object emits sound, it loses some of its energy to the surroundings
Learning Set 3:
Chemical energy is transformed into other types of energy during a chemical reaction.
An object’s chemical energy increases as its mass increases. The type of substance an object is made of influences the amount of chemical energy it has.
Electrical energy can be transformed into other types of energy in a closed conducting circuit with an energy source.
An electric battery transforms chemical energy into electrical energy. An electric generator transforms kinetic energy into electrical energy
Content Knowledge
Learning Set 1: What Determines How Fast or High an Object Will Go?
Energy can be used to describe what makes things happen, why things stop, and why things keep going.
Energy transfer: the process which energy moves from one object or area to another.
Energy conversion: energy can be converted from one type to another.
Gravitational energy is potential energy. As the mass or the elevation of the object increases, its gravitational potential energy increases.
Kinetic Energy is energy in motion.
Mass and speed help determine kinetic energy.
Elastic energy is the ability of an object to be stretched or compressed. The more an object stretches, the greater the distance between the particles.
Elastic energy can be converted into kinetic energy and then again to gravitational energy.
Rigidity is a measure of elasticity.
Deformation is an objects ability to compress or elongate.
Learning Set 2: Why Do Some Things Stop?
Thermal energy; temperature and mass determine the amount of thermal energy of objects.
Energy Transformation = Change from one type of energy to another
Energy Transfer = Move from one object to another, or one area to another area in an object
Energy conservation: regardless of whether only energy transformation, energy transfer, or both are involved in a phenomenon, the total amount of energy is always conserved.
A system is any group of related objects or components that constitute a “whole.”
Deformation: when two objects collide, the two objects deform and heat up upon impact.
A slow-moving but heavy object can have more kinetic energy than a fast-moving but light object.
The opposite is also true; it depends on the values of m and v.
Elastic energy increases as the object stretches or compresses.
Like with kinetic energy, a rigid (hard) object that is deformed only a bit can have more or less elastic energy than a soft object that has a large deformation; it all depends on the values of k and d.
Thermal energy plays a key role in the transfer of energy to the surroundings in almost all phenomena and its influential in making things stop.
Difference between mass and weight.
Learning Set 3: Why Do Some Things Keep Going?
The energy needed to keep something going is transferred elsewhere.
Sound energy is both a type of energy and a mechanism for transferring energy.
A change of mass and/or the type of substance affects the amount of chemical energy transformed in a phenomenon.
Electrical energy can be used to continuously transfer energy.
Light energy is a type of energy, source of energy, and a transfer of energy.