Heat, Light and Sound =

Energy
First let’s talk about energy.
 Energy is when
something has the
ability to do work.
 Examples: fire can
make heat energy, the
sun can make light
energy and a trumpet
can make sound
energy.
 Forms of energy waves
 Many forms of energy travel in
waves.
 Mechanical waves, like sound
waves, seismic waves and water
waves, need a medium to travel
through. A medium is anything in
which an energy wave can flow
through.
 Electromagnetic waves like visible
light and radio waves can travel
through nothing as well as many
different mediums.
 Waves
 Energy often travels in waves and
the strength of the energy depends
on how high the wave is or how
close the waves are together.
 Transverse waves move at a right
angle to the energy flow.
 The highest point of a transverse
waves is called a crest and the
lowest point is called a trough.
 Wavelength
 Wavelength is the
distance between two
crests of a wave or two
troughs.
 Amplitude
 Amplitude is the
measure of how much
energy a wave is
carrying.
 The greater the
amplitude, the greater
the energy.
 Frequency
 The frequency is the number of
waves that pass by a set point in a
second.

 Frequency is measured in hertz

(waves per second).

 Frequency is related to
wavelength. The larger the
wavelength the lower the
frequency. The smaller the wave
length the higher the frequency.

 The higher the frequency the

greater the energy.
 What do you think?
 What has more energy?
 A wave with a high amplitude
and a short wave length.
 Or a wave with a long
wavelength and a short
amplitude.
 The wave with a high amplitude
and a short wavelength has a lot
more energy.
 Heat
 Heat is the total amount of energy
an object has because of its
moving molecules.
 Heat is capable of being
transmitted through solids and
liquids by conduction, through
fluid media by convection, and
through empty space by radiation.
 Temperature vs. Heat
Heat
Heat is is the
the total
total amount
amount ofof energy
energy
in
in aa system
system
Temperature
Temperature is is aa measure
measure ofof the
the
average
average kinetic
kinetic energy
energy ofof each
each Consider each glass to be a system
atom
atom in in that
that system.
system.
Example:
Example:
Both
Both glasses
glasses havehave the
the same
same
temperature
temperature (molecules
(molecules are
are Same temperature Lower heat
moving
moving at at same
same speed)
speed) but
but aa Higher heat
different
different heat
heat because
because the
the
glass
glass with
with more
more water
water has
has
more
more molecules
molecules moving
moving
around
around to to transfer
transfer the
the energy.
energy.
 Conduction
 Conductor- remember a conductor is an
object that allows energy (like heat and
electricity) to travel through it easily.

 Conduction is the transfer of heat

between two objects because they are
touching each other.

 Examples:
 Placing a pan on a burner
 Touching a curling iron with your hand
 Types of Conductors
 Good conductors are objects that energy
(like heat) flows through easily.

 Metal is a great conductor, that is why

we use it for pans.

 Poor conductors are objects that energy

does not travel well through. We call these
insulators.

 Wood, cloth, plastic and rubber are

insulators because they do not allow
energy to pass through them easily.
That is why they are used for things
like pot holders and handles, so that
you do not burn yourself.
 Convection
 Convection is the transfer of heat
through liquids and gases as
molecules circulate in currents.
Convection represents the transfer
of heat by circulation or movement
of the hot particles to cooler areas.
 Convection through liquids.
Convection through liquids (water)
* A pan full of water heats up on
a stove. First the water on the
bottom heats up. The hot water
then is pushed out of the way
by the cooler water on top
(because cool water sinks) and
this water warms up. This will
go on until all of the water is
the same temperature. If the
water continues to heat up it
will evaporate. This circulation
of heat is called convection.
 Convection through gases.
Convection through gas (air)
* As the hot ground warms
the cool air above it, the air
starts to rise. Warm air
always rises because it is less
dense. Cool air always sinks
because it is more dense. As
the air warms up, cooler air
sinks and pushes the warm air
up and out of the way. This
movement of heat energy
through the air is called
convection.
 Radiation
 Radiation is the transfer of energy
by electromagnetic waves.
 Radiation can travel through space
(nothing).
 The sun’s radiant energy
(radiation) travels through space to
Earth and warms us up.
 Examples
 The sun warming your face.
 Heat from a light bulb (without
touching it).
 Absorption
 Absorption – Taking in or swallowing
up energy.
 Examples
 When you touch a hot object your hand
will absorb the energy and your hand
will become warmer. (heat is energy!
 Solar panels absorb heat energy from
the sun and turn it into usable power.
 Earth absorbs the sun’s radiant energy
and that heat warms Earth’s cooler air.
That is how Earth is warm enough to
live on.
 Forms of radiant energy
 Radiant energy is a form of
energy transferred by radiation.
This energy can pass through
space and it described as a
spectrum.

 The different forms of radiant

energy are:

 Radio, TV, Microwave, Infra

Red, Visible Light, Ultra Violet
Light, X-Ray, Gamma
 A spectrum is a series of energy
bands. The colors red, orange,
yellow, green, blue, indigo, and
violet, arranged in order of their
wavelengths and seen when
white light passes through a
prism. (Roy G. Biv)

 
 Photons
 Light travels in two ways: through
photons and through waves.
 Photons are tiny, invisible,
packets of light.
 Photons have different levels of
energy. The shorter the
wavelength the higher the energy.
 Red light has the longest
wavelength and the least amount
of energy.
 Light moves in waves also.
Waves
 Waves are measured by their
frequency, or how closely they
travel together.

 High frequency waves travel

closer together and have a higher
energy.

 Low frequency waves travel

farther apart and have a lower
energy.

 Wavelength is the distance

between the peaks of two
different waves.
 Refraction
 Normally light travels in a straight path,
but when it hits an object of a different
density the light will bend this is called
refraction.

 Refraction – When light bends as it

travels from one medium to another.

 A medium is any substance through

which a wave is transmitted (sent
through).

 Light does not need a medium in order to

travel, it can travel through space where
there are not air particles to carry it. This
is useful otherwise we would not be able
to use the sun’s energy.
 Hey that’s me!
Reflection
 Our ability to see depends on the
reflection of light.
 Reflection is when rays of light or
heat are reflected, or bounced off
other objects.
 If light reflects off a smooth
surface (like a mirror) it will
bounce off at the same angle. This
is how we are able to see our
selves perfectly through a flat
mirror.
 Hit Me!! sol.sci.uop.edu

 Light hits objects at certain

angles.
 Angle of incidence – The
angle at which light strikes a
surface.

 Angle of reflection – The

angle at which light bounces
off a surface

Mathresources.com
 Color in light
 Visible light is made up of many
different colors.
 White light is the combination of all
colors.
 Blackness is the absence of all light.
 We see colors when a particular
color is reflected off the surface of
an object. The other colors are
absorbed.
 Colored light can be combined to
create different colors.
 Prisms
 We can see the different colors of light
when white light enters a prism and
refracts (bends).
 Remember a prism is a 3D shape with
two bases that are the same shape.
 The prism refracts the light and separates
the colors. Each color of light bends
slightly differently than the others.
 A rainbow occurs because raindrops act
as prisms. The sunlight enters the
raindrop and is refracted, creating a
rainbow.

Sound
Sound, like heat and light, is a form of energy.

 Sound is heard because it makes air particles

vibrate (rapid back and forth movement).

 Sound travels through air as sound waves.

Sound waves travel in all directions from the
source of the wave.

 Sound waves are different from

electromagnetic waves, because sound waves
need a medium to pass through. If sound
waves don’t have something to pass through,
they don’t go anywhere.

 Sound can also travel through water, metal

and other things.
 Pitch
 Pitch is how high or low a
sounds is.
 Pitch depends on how close
together the waves are in a sound
wave or high the frequency is.
 The closer the waves are the
higher the pitch.
 Waves with a lower frequency,
or waves that are farther apart,
have a lower pitch.
 Loudness or Volume
 The loudness of a sound is called
volume. How loud a sound is
depends upon how many particles are
moved by the sound wave, or how
high the amplitude of a wave is.
 If a sound wave moves a lot of
particles, the sound is loud.
 If a sound wave moves a small
amount of particles, the sound is
soft.
 A sound wave with a loud sound has
a high amplitude and visa versa.
 Decibels
 The loudness of a sound is
measured in decibels.
 The higher the decibel the
louder the sound is.
 What object has the loudest
sound?

Sound
Sound waves don’t only travel
travels
through air (gas).
 Sounds travels farther through solids
and liquids because the particles in
solids and liquids are closer together
than they are in gases.
 What happens to sound waves?
 The farther away you are from a
sound, the harder it is to hear.
 This is because as sound travels it
loses energy. It will eventually run
out of energy and the sound can no
longer be heard.
 Loud sounds have more energy
and it takes them longer to lose
their energy.