Glossary
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Chemical Energy: Chemical Energy is the energy stored in the bonds of chemical compounds and is often released during a chemical reaction. Batteries, coal and natural gas are examples of chemical potential energy.
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Elastic Energy: Elastic energy is the potential energy stored as a result of the deformation of an elastic object. Springs, a bouncing ball and a rubber ball are examples of elastic potential energy.
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Energy: Energy is an abstract concept of an indirectly observed quantity. It refers to a condition or state of an object, and is not an object itself. Energy of an object is equivalent to how much work the object or system can do on some other object or system.
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Joule (J): The joule is the unit of energy in the International System of Units. Its base units are kg∙m2∙s-2
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Conservation of Energy
Kinetic Energy: Kinetic energy is the energy that an object possesses because of its motion. All moving things have kinetic energy including large things, like planets, or small ones, like atoms.
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Law of Conservation of Energy: The law of conservation of energy is that the total energy of an isolated system remains constant. Energy can neither be created nor destroyed but is transformed from one form to another.
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Magnetic Energy: Magnetic energy is the energy found in a magnetic field resulting in various metals to either repel or attract each other. Examples of magnetic energy include a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine, a compass or the Earth’s Magnetic field.
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Movement: The act of changing physical location or position, or of having this changed.
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Nuclear Energy: Nuclear energy is the energy released during a nuclear reaction, whether it be fission or fusion. The sun is an example of an object with nuclear potential energy.
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Potential Energy: Potential energy is the energy found in an object as a result of its position relative to others, stresses within itself, electric charge or other factors.
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Sound: Energy associated with sound is the result of the vibration of matter.
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Thermal energy: Thermal energy is energy that comes from heat, which in turn is generated by movement of tiny particles within an object. As thermal energy is the result of the movement of particles, it is a type of kinetic energy. The sun, a grill and a stove are all examples of objects with thermal energy.
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Work: Work is done when a force that is applied to an object moves that object.
