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Forms of Energy

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Forms of Energy

Aotearoa New Zealand is planning a small coastal energy hub. Use the energy stores and transfers in each situation to advise the design team. For each explanation, name the relevant form or forms of energy and describe what changes.

Identify and classify

Use the scenario to identify energy forms. More than one form may be present in a situation.

1.The wind turns the turbine blades. Which energy form best describes the moving blades?

Chemical energy
Kinetic energy
Gravitational potential energy
Nuclear energy

2.A battery stores energy for use after sunset. Name the form of energy stored in the battery, and name one useful output when it powers a lamp.

3.The panels receive sunlight and supply electricity to the battery. Choose the best description of the main energy transfer in the panels.

Light energy is transferred to electrical energy.
Sound energy is transferred to chemical energy.
Thermal energy is transferred to gravitational potential energy.
Kinetic energy is transferred to nuclear energy.

4.A stream drives a turbine that generates electricity. Explain why the stream has kinetic energy and state what useful energy form the generator produces.

Trace energy transfers

Follow the energy from its starting store to the final output. Energy is transferred, not used up; some may spread to the surroundings.

5.A solar-powered lamp lights a path. Complete the sequence: sunlight → solar panel → battery → lamp. Describe the energy form at each stage, including the lamp’s useful output and one less-useful output.

6.A maintenance worker lifts a toolbox onto a platform. Later, it falls to the ground. Describe the energy-store changes as it is lifted and as it falls.

7.True or false? In a functioning device, energy disappears when it changes into a form that is not useful to the user. Explain your choice.

Apply your understanding

Use evidence and clear energy language to make a recommendation for the energy hub.

8.A team says, “A wind turbine creates energy from nothing.” Rewrite this statement so it correctly describes the energy transfer.

9.The hub needs power at night when there is little sunlight. Explain how a battery helps, and identify the energy change involved when stored energy is used in a home.

10.Choose one device in the coastal hub (wind turbine, solar panel, battery or lamp). Write an energy-transfer chain for it and identify one output that is useful and one that is less useful. Explain your choices.