Skip to main content
Chemistry LibreTexts

Energy

  • Page ID
    35993
  • \( \newcommand{\vecs}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \) \( \newcommand{\vecd}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash {#1}}} \)\(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)\(\newcommand{\AA}{\unicode[.8,0]{x212B}}\)

    Energy is an illusive driving force of change and is a term coined by Thomas Young to broaden the concept of heat and work. Energy has many forms

    • mechanical energy defined in Newtonian physics as potential and kinetic energy
      unit: joule (J), 1 J = 1 N m
    • heat - energy in transition within a medium
      unit: calorie (cal), 1 cal = 4.184 J.
    • electric energy - energy acquired by electric charge when accelerated by a voltage
      units: J eV MeV GeV TeV amu etc
    • radiation (light and radioactivity)
    • chemical energy
    • energy carried by sound
    • energy mass (nuclear energy)
    • converts from one form to another at fixed rate.
      For example: 1 cal = 4.184 J (a new definition of cal)
      There is much to learn in energy conversion.
    • can neither be created nor destroyed - the law of conservation of energy .
    • has many sources and forms
    • is managed individually and collectively in a society

    Contributors and Attributions


    This page titled Energy is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Chung (Peter) Chieh.

    • Was this article helpful?