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Energy Storage and Transfer

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Energy Storage and Transfer

Read the scenario and use your science knowledge to investigate where energy is stored and how it is transferred. Answer every question. In energy pathways, name the store at the start and end, and the transfer pathway where you can.

The hill ride

Dylan rides a bicycle up a hill, pauses at the top, then freewheels down. At the bottom, she squeezes the brakes and comes to a stop. Her bicycle has a dynamo that powers a small front light while the wheels turn. During the ride, energy is transferred between stores and some spreads to the surroundings, especially as heating and sound.

Identify the stores

Energy stores describe where energy is held. Examples include chemical, gravitational potential, kinetic, elastic potential and thermal stores. Energy can be transferred mechanically, electrically, by heating or by radiation.

1.Before Dylan starts pedalling uphill, which store is the main source of energy for her muscles?

Chemical store in her body
Gravitational potential store of the bicycle
Kinetic store of the moving bicycle
Thermal store of the brakes

2.Dylan pauses at the top of the hill. Name two energy stores present in the bicycle-and-rider system at that moment. One should be a store gained by travelling uphill.

3.Match each event to the main energy transfer pathway: (a) Dylan’s moving legs turn the pedals; (b) the dynamo sends energy to the front light; (c) the light sends energy out into the surroundings.

a. Moving legs turn the pedals
b. Dynamo powers the light
c. Light sends energy into the surroundings

By radiation
Mechanically
Electrically

4.As Dylan freewheels downhill, energy is transferred from the gravitational potential store to the kinetic store of the bicycle-and-rider system.

TrueFalse

5.When Dylan squeezes the brakes, friction slows the bicycle. Complete the pathway: kinetic store of the moving bicycle → transfer by .

6.When friction slows the bicycle, which store increases in the brakes and surroundings?

7.The bicycle dynamo powers the front light while the wheel turns. Describe the energy transfers and changes from the moving bicycle to the light and its surroundings.

Energy is conserved

Energy does not disappear. It is transferred between stores and pathways. In many real systems, some energy spreads to the surroundings, often by heating and sound, making less energy available for the intended task.

8.A student says, “When the bicycle stops, all its energy has vanished.” Rewrite this claim so it follows the principle of conservation of energy.

9.At the top of the hill, Dylan is stationary. At the bottom, she is moving quickly. Which situation has the greater gravitational potential store, and which has the greater kinetic store? Explain briefly.

10.Write a short energy pathway for Dylan’s ride from the start of pedalling uphill to the bicycle moving downhill. Include at least two stores and one transfer pathway.

11.A wound-up toy car is released and rolls across the floor before stopping. Name the store that decreases as it moves, the store that increases in the moving car, and one way energy is transferred when it stops.