Physics · Glossary

What is The other forms?

Also known as: thermal energy · chemical energy · electrical energy · radiative energy · nuclear energy

Definition 9.6 High School Physics · Chapter 9 — Energy: Forms and Conservation

Energy also hides in less visible costumes: thermal energy, the disordered agitation of a body’s molecules (the hotter, the more); chemical energy, stored in molecular bonds — food, wood, gasoline, batteries; electrical energy, carried by currents from plant to socket; radiative energy, carried by light even across empty space — how the Sun’s energy reaches us; nuclear energy, stored inside atomic nuclei, released in stars (Chapter 33).

Examples

Example 9.13 (Where the gasoline goes)

A kilogram of gasoline stores 45MJ45\,\mathrm{MJ} of chemical energy; a car engine converts it with η0.30\eta \approx 0.30: 13.5MJ13.5\,\mathrm{MJ} of motion, 31.5MJ31.5\,\mathrm{MJ} heating the exhaust, the radiator and the street. Two thirds of every tank warms the atmosphere.

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