EnergyandWork-UniversityofColoradoBoulder.docVIP

Work and Energy Energy is difficult to define because it comes in many different forms. It is hard to find a single definition which covers all the forms. Some types of energy: kinetic energy (KE) = energy of motion thermal energy = energy of atomic jiggling potential energy(PE) = stored energy of position/configuration various kinds of PE: gravitational electrostatic elastic (actually a form of electrostatic PE) chemical (another form of electrostatic PE) nuclear radiant energy = energy of light mass energy (Einsteins Relativity Theory says mass is a form of energy.) Almost all forms of energy on earth can be traced back to the Sun.: Example: Lift a book (gravitational PE) ( chemical PE in muscles ( chemical PE in food ( cows ( grass ( sun (through photosynthesis) ! Some textbooks say that energy is the ability to do work (not a bad definition, but rather abstract). A key idea that we will use over and over again is this: Whenever work is being done, energy is being changed from one form to another or being transferred from one body to another. The amount of work done on a system is the change in energy of the system. We’ll use the symbol W for work and the symbol U for energy. (We will define work later.) The English sentence “The work done equals the amount of energy transformed” we can write as W = ?U This is called “The First Law of Thermodynamics”. Aside: Actually the First Law of Thermodynamics is this: “heat added plus work done equals change in energy” or Q + W = ?U . (Q is the symbol for heat). In this chapter we won’t consider adding heat to a system (like holding a flame under it), so Q = 0 and we have just W?=??U As well see later, energy is an extremely useful concept because energy is conserved. When we say energy is conserved, we mean that energy cannot be created or destroyed; it can only be transformed from one form to another, or transferred from one body to another. The total amount of energy everywhere is fixed; a