Name ___________________________________

Energy Forms and Changes

Energy is the ability to do work. Energy comes in di erent forms including Mechanical, Electrical,
Thermal, Light, and Chemical. Modern civilization is possible because people have learned to change
energy from one form to another allowing it to do useful work.

Open the simulation: https://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulations/energy-forms-and-changes

Part 1: Intro: Heat Capacity is the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of a substance by a
certain amount..
Question 1: Which has a higher Heat Capacity, water or oil?
Your prediction (check one):
Q1and Q2 Settings:
Water has a higher heat capacity than oil.
Oil has a higher heat capacity than water.
Water and oil have the same heat capacity.

Experiment: Place the beaker of water on one

stand and the beaker of oil on the other. Place a
thermometer in each beaker. Heat both beakers
at the same time and observe.

Conclusion: ______________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

Which has a higher heat capacity, water or oil? Explain.

Question 2: Which can achieve a higher temperature before turning to a vapor?

Experiment: Continue heating the water and oil and observe the temperature of the highest
each when they begin to vaporize. temperature a liquid
can achieve is called
its Critical
Temperature.

Conclusion:___________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________

Which can achieve a higher temperature before turning to a vapor?

Question 3: Which has a higher heat capacity, iron or brick ?

Your prediction (check one):

Experiment: Design and perform an

Iron has a higher heat capacity than brick.
experiment to determine which has
Brick has a higher heat capacity than iron.
the higher heat capacity between
Iron and brick have the same heat capacity.
iron and brick.

Describe your experiment: ________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________

Conclusion:___________________________________________________________________________________

Which has a higher heat capacity, iron or brick?

© James Gonyo all rights reserved www.gonyoscience.com

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page 2

Part 2: Systems
Energy System 1: Set up and run Energy System 1. √
2
be sure to 1
turn on the
energy symbols!

Conclusion 1: Which of the following best describes how energy changes in form throughout this system?

1. Mechanical 2. Thermal 3. Chemical 4. Light

1. Chemical 2. Mechanical 3. Electrical 4. Thermal

1. Mechanical 2. Electrical 3. Chemical 4. Thermal

Conclusion 2: What is the fuel that must be added to keep the system running? ___________________________

Energy System 2: Set up and run Energy System 2. Pull to run system

3
4

Conclusion: Which of the following best describes how energy changes in form throughout this system?

1. Mechanical 2. Electrical 3. Thermal 4. Light

1. Electrical 2. Mechanical 3. Chemical 4. Light

1. Mechanical 2. Electrical 3. Chemical 4. Thermal

© James Gonyo all rights reserved www.gonyoscience.com

page 3

Energy System 3: Set up an Energy System that will convert:

Light Energy into Electrical Energy and then into Mechanical Energy

Conclusion: Circle the system components that will convert energy in this way.

Energy System 4: Set up an Energy System that will convert:

Thermal and Mechanical Energy into Electrical Energy and then back into Thermal Energy

Conclusion: Circle the system components that will convert energy in this way.

Energy System 5: Set up an Energy System that will convert:

Light Energy into Electrical Energy and then back into Light Energy (with very little thermal energy)

Conclusion: Circle the system components that will convert energy in this way.

Energy System 6: Set up an Energy System that will convert:

Chemical Energy into Thermal Energy

Conclusion: Circle the system components that will convert energy in this way. There is more than one correct answer.

© James Gonyo all rights reserved www.gonyoscience.com

page 4

Energy System 7: Set up an Energy System that will convert:

Light Energy into Electrical Energy into Thermal Energy and then back into Light Energy

Conclusion: Circle the system components that will convert energy in this way.

Energy System 8: Design, set up, and run an Energy System that will include all 5 forms of energy.

Conclusion: Circle the system components that will convert energy in this way.

Try taking a
screen capture
(if you’re using a Draw and Label your system (label the locations of each type of energy).
digital device)!

Fill in the blanks with the type of energy in the order at which they are produced:

__________ Energy into __________ Energy into __________ Energy into __________ Energy into __________Energy

© James Gonyo all rights reserved www.gonyoscience.com