Energy Forms & Transformations
What type of energy is stored in the food you eat and released when your body moves?
Chemical Energy
Light travels in what kind of path until it hits an object?
A straight line
What do all waves carry from one place to another?
Energy
What kind of circuit allows electricity to flow?
A push or pull on an object is called what?
A force
A toaster changes electrical energy into which form of energy?
Thermal Energy
What happens when light passes through water or a prism?
It is refracted (bent).
Compare how sound waves and light waves travel.
Sound needs matter (mechanical wave); light can travel through empty space (electromagnetic wave).
What happens when a light bulb burns out in a series circuit?
The entire circuit is broken; all bulbs go out.
What two forces slow down a rolling ball on grass?
Friction and gravity.
A student rubs their hands together and feels heat. What transformation occurred?
Mechanical energy → Thermal energy
Why does a pencil look “broken” when placed in a glass of water?
Refraction causes light to bend as it moves through different mediums.
A student observes ripples spreading in water after dropping a rock. What property of waves does this demonstrate?
Waves transfer energy outward from a source through a medium.
Why do parallel circuits allow multiple lights to stay on even if one burns out?
Each path is independent for the flow of electricity.
Explain how mass and force affect acceleration.
Greater force increases acceleration; greater mass requires more force to accelerate.
When a battery powers a flashlight, describe the full energy transformation pathway.
Chemical → Electrical → Light (and thermal)
Bonus: Mechanical to close the circuit before the battery releases energy
Explain how a concave lens affects light differently than a convex lens.
Concave lenses spread light apart; convex lenses focus light to a point.
Explain how waves can be reflected, refracted, or absorbed, and give an example of each using either light or sound.
Reflection – echo or mirror; Refraction – straw in water looks bent; Absorption – sound muffled by a wall or light absorbed by dark cloth.
Describe the energy transformations in a working circuit that lights a bulb.
Chemical (battery) → Electrical → Light + Thermal.
A toy car is pushed with different strengths. Predict how changing the force affects the car’s motion.
The stronger the force, the faster and farther it moves.
Compare potential and kinetic energy using a roller coaster as an example.
Potential energy at the top converts to kinetic energy as it moves down.
A student shines a flashlight at a mirror, then through water, and then at a dark cloth. Identify what happens in each case.
Mirror: reflection; Water: refraction; Cloth: absorption.
How does the wavelength of a wave affect its energy?
Think about the waves at a beach to help support your thinking.
Shorter wavelength = higher energy; longer wavelength = lower energy.
A student builds a circuit that doesn’t light the bulb. Give three possible reasons why it might not work.
(1) Open circuit (loose wire); (2) Dead battery; (3) Bulb filament broken.
Describe how energy transformations occur when a person rides a bike down a hill and stops with the brakes.
Potential → Kinetic → Thermal (from brake friction).
OR
Chemical → Mechanical