Skip to main content

Conservation of Energy

Mahi Tuatahi 🔗

  1. Collect a sheet, scissors and glue stick (if needed)
  2. Cut out the strips
  3. Order them from most energy to least
  4. Put all your recycling in the green bin (don’t crumple it up!)
  5. Don’t glue them in yet - you might be wrong!

ActionEnergy
Energy to drive a car 100 kilometres250,000,000 J

ActionEnergy
Energy to drive a car 100 kilometres250,000,000 J
Energy stored in one litre of petrol34,000,000 J

ActionEnergy
Energy to drive a car 100 kilometres250,000,000 J
Energy stored in one litre of petrol34,000,000 J
Energy used by the human body in one day10,000,000 J

ActionEnergy
Energy to drive a car 100 kilometres250,000,000 J
Energy stored in one litre of petrol34,000,000 J
Energy used by the human body in one day10,000,000 J
Energy in 30 cents of electricity3,600,000 J

ActionEnergy
Energy to drive a car 100 kilometres250,000,000 J
Energy stored in one litre of petrol34,000,000 J
Energy used by the human body in one day10,000,000 J
Energy in 30 cents of electricity3,600,000 J
Energy in a typical chocolate bar1,000,000 J

ActionEnergy
Energy to drive a car 100 kilometres250,000,000 J
Energy stored in one litre of petrol34,000,000 J
Energy used by the human body in one day10,000,000 J
Energy in 30 cents of electricity3,600,000 J
Energy in a typical chocolate bar1,000,000 J
Energy to boil one litre of water, starting from frozen500,000 J

ActionEnergy
Energy to drive a car 100 kilometres250,000,000 J
Energy stored in one litre of petrol34,000,000 J
Energy used by the human body in one day10,000,000 J
Energy in 30 cents of electricity3,600,000 J
Energy in a typical chocolate bar1,000,000 J
Energy to boil one litre of water, starting from frozen500,000 J
Energy stored in a peanut25,000 J

ActionEnergy
Energy to drive a car 100 kilometres250,000,000 J
Energy stored in one litre of petrol34,000,000 J
Energy used by the human body in one day10,000,000 J
Energy in 30 cents of electricity3,600,000 J
Energy in a typical chocolate bar1,000,000 J
Energy to boil one litre of water, starting from frozen500,000 J
Energy stored in a peanut25,000 J
Kinetic energy of a fast-moving cricket ball1,000 J

ActionEnergy
Energy to drive a car 100 kilometres250,000,000 J
Energy stored in one litre of petrol34,000,000 J
Energy used by the human body in one day10,000,000 J
Energy in 30 cents of electricity3,600,000 J
Energy in a typical chocolate bar1,000,000 J
Energy to boil one litre of water, starting from frozen500,000 J
Energy stored in a peanut25,000 J
Kinetic energy of a fast-moving cricket ball1,000 J
Energy stored in an AA battery1,000 J

ActionEnergy
Energy to drive a car 100 kilometres250,000,000 J
Energy stored in one litre of petrol34,000,000 J
Energy used by the human body in one day10,000,000 J
Energy in 30 cents of electricity3,600,000 J
Energy in a typical chocolate bar1,000,000 J
Energy to boil one litre of water, starting from frozen500,000 J
Energy stored in a peanut25,000 J
Kinetic energy of a fast-moving cricket ball1,000 J
Energy stored in an AA battery1,000 J
Energy from burning one whole match1,000 J

ActionEnergy
Energy to drive a car 100 kilometres250,000,000 J
Energy stored in one litre of petrol34,000,000 J
Energy used by the human body in one day10,000,000 J
Energy in 30 cents of electricity3,600,000 J
Energy in a typical chocolate bar1,000,000 J
Energy to boil one litre of water, starting from frozen500,000 J
Energy stored in a peanut25,000 J
Kinetic energy of a fast-moving cricket ball1,000 J
Energy stored in an AA battery1,000 J
Energy from burning one whole match1,000 J
Energy used to lift up an apple by one meter1 J

ActionEnergy
Energy to drive a car 100 kilometres250,000,000 J
Energy stored in one litre of petrol34,000,000 J
Energy used by the human body in one day10,000,000 J
Energy in 30 cents of electricity3,600,000 J
Energy in a typical chocolate bar1,000,000 J
Energy to boil one litre of water, starting from frozen500,000 J
Energy stored in a peanut25,000 J
Kinetic energy of a fast-moving cricket ball1,000 J
Energy stored in an AA battery1,000 J
Energy from burning one whole match1,000 J
Energy used to lift up an apple by one meter1 J
Energy to make the human heart beat once1/2 J

ActionEnergy
Energy to drive a car 100 kilometres250,000,000 J
Energy stored in one litre of petrol34,000,000 J
Energy used by the human body in one day10,000,000 J
Energy in 30 cents of electricity3,600,000 J
Energy in a typical chocolate bar1,000,000 J
Energy to boil one litre of water, starting from frozen500,000 J
Energy stored in a peanut25,000 J
Kinetic energy of a fast-moving cricket ball1,000 J
Energy stored in an AA battery1,000 J
Energy from burning one whole match1,000 J
Energy used to lift up an apple by one meter1 J
Energy to make the human heart beat once1/2 J
Energy to push a key on a computer keyboard1/100 J


Ngā Whāinga Ako 🔗


Types of Energy 🔗

Recall from last class the different types of energy:

  1. Active
  2. Potential

PotentialActive
ChemicalKinetic
GravitationalHeat
ElasticRadiant
NuclearElectric
MagneticSound

For each of the following pictures, write down what the picture is showing you and the type of energy associated with it.



NB: Not a real photo








Law of Conservation of Energy 🔗

Energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transferred or transformed from one type to another.

This means that energy always comes from somewhere else! It is never created from nothing.


The Pendulum 🔗


Another good tauria (example) of the conservation of energy is in hydroelectric power generation. Watch this video to find out about one portion of New Zealand’s hydroelectric scheme.


Hydroelectric Power Generation 🔗


What Is Energy? 🔗



Perpetual Motion? 🔗

You may have heard of perpetual motion machines - machines that create infinite energy!


These machines appear to run forever, producing energy forever without consuming any energy.

Unfortunately, they are always a scam! People have been trying to make them since the dark ages but can all be shown to not work due to the law of conservation of energy!