Energy can't be created or destroyed
Explain the principle of conservation of energy (energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transferred between stores), and describe how energy is dissipated as thermal energy to the surroundings in all real processes
Typical age: 11–12 years
“If your child charged their phone overnight and was asked where the electrical energy goes, could they explain what conservation of energy means — and why the charger gets warm even though that heat isn’t doing any useful work?”
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- Power: watts and energy per secondREQUIRED
Power is the rate of energy transfer — the concept of energy stores and conservation must be understood before rates can be discussed
- Efficiency, Sankey diagrams, and work doneREQUIRED
Efficiency calculations quantify how much energy is conserved vs dissipated — conservation and dissipation must be understood first
- Reactions That Release or Absorb Heat
Conservation of energy in physical systems connects to exothermic/endothermic reactions — energy is conserved in chemical systems too