Types of Energy
A human walking down the street has this type of energy because it is moving.
Mechanical/ Motion
As a ball falls, its gravitational potential energy changes into this type of energy.
Mechanical/ Motion
Sunlight and wind belong to this resource category because nature continually replenishes them.
Renewable
This star supplies nearly all the energy that enters Earth’s system.
The Sun
Heat naturally moves from warmer objects toward objects at this temperature relative to them.
A Cooler Temperature
A student eats a granola bar before playing basketball. Which type of energy is stored in the food?
Chemical energy
A toaster changes this energy into thermal energy that heats bread.
Coal, oil, and natural gas belong to this group of nonrenewable resources formed from the remains of ancient organisms through heat and pressure over millions of years.
Fossil Fuels
About 29% of incoming solar energy returns to space through this process involving clouds, atmospheric particles, and bright surfaces.
reflection
A metal spoon warms up when it touches hot soup because of this type of heat transfer.
Conduction
Unlike the energy stored in food’s chemical bonds, this energy is stored in an atom’s nucleus and can be released when the nucleus splits.
Nuclear energy
A solar panel transforms this type of energy into electrical energy.
Radiant energy
Wood is considered this type of renewable resource.
Biomass
About 71% of incoming solar energy undergoes this process, warming Earth’s surface and atmosphere.
Absorption
You feel warmth from a campfire without touching it because energy travels to you as electromagnetic waves through this process.
Radiation
Two identical bowls of soup have different temperatures. The hotter soup has more of this energy because its particles move faster on average.
Thermal energy
A battery-powered flashlight produces light through these three energy forms, in order.
chemical → electrical → radiant energy
Although nuclear power does not burn fossil fuels, its fuel belongs to the nonrenewable category because it uses this mined element.
Uranium
If Earth absorbs more energy than it releases to space over time, its average temperature does this.
Increases
Water heated at the bottom of a pot rises while cooler water sinks, creating currents through this process.
Convection
Two identical books sit on different shelves. The book on the higher shelf has more of this stored energy because of its position above the floor.
Gravitational energy
In a coal-burning power plant, these four energy forms connect the fuel to the electricity produced by a generator, in order.
chemical → thermal → mechanical/motion → electrical energy
This nonrenewable fossil fuel generates more electricity in the United States than any other single energy source.
Natural gas
The equator receives more concentrated solar energy than the poles, causing unequal what?
heating
A vacuum between the walls of a thermos greatly reduces conduction and convection, but this type of heat transfer can still occur across the empty space.
Radiation