Transferring energy

In each of these examples, energy is transferred by one of the following four types of energy transfer:

mechanical work - a force moving an object through a distance

electrical work - charges moving due to a potential difference

heating - due to temperature difference caused electrically or by chemical reaction

radiation - energy tranferred as a wave, eg light and infrared - light radiation and infrared radiation are emitted from the sun

Doing 'work' is the SCIENTIFIC way of saying that energy has been transferred. For example, a grazing cow, a firing catapult and a boiling KETTLE are all doing 'work', as energy is being transferred.

Energy flow diagrams

Diagrams can be used to show how energy is transferred from one store to another. Two examples are the transfer diagram and the Sankey diagram.

Transfer diagrams

In transfer diagrams the boxes show the energy STORES and the arrows show the energy transfers.

For example, a transfer diagram for a child at the top of a SLIDE may be:

Energy transfer diagram of a child on a slide

Gravitational energy stored in the child at the top of the slide is transferred as mechanical work done to speed up and to do work against friction. The result of this is a SHIFT of energy from gravitational potential energy to kinetic energy and internal energy (raising the temperature of the child and the slide).