Energy

Scientists originally believed that the amount of energy in the universe is constant, and stated this as the Law of Conservation of Energy. " Energy can not be created or destroyed, but only transformed from one form to another." Einstein showed that matter can be converted into energy (E=mc²), and vice versa, as occurs in nuclear reactions eg the sun. However, for most other situations, we can use the Law of Conservation of Energy to describe energy transformations.

kinetic energy	solar energy	chemical potential energy
heat energy	electromagnetic radiation	gravitational potential energy
wind energy	eg light	elastic potential energy
sound energy		electrical energy etc
Note: heat, wind and sound energy can be considered to be special forms of kinetic energy		Potential energy

When energy transformations occur, some of the original energy is converted to heat energy.
Thus the energy transformation is never 100% efficient, and so perpetual motion machines are not possible.
Activity
List some energy sources and receivers and the corresponding conversions, (eg what happens in a torch.) in the text area below. If you wish you can submit your ideas to your teachers by clicking on the submit button. Other wise print out this page to save your ideas.

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