Energy is special. There's lots of it about and it's very useful. Why?

What's so special? Here's just a few reasons.

it lets me swim fast and catch my fish
it gets you out of bed in the morning
it means that birds can fly, tigers can roar,
wind can blow
it makes the sun, the moon and stars
shine
it makes plants grow -- food (= stored plant energy) for animals
it makes cars move, factories produce things, light bulbs glow,
planes fly and your computer work.
many more!

I'll bet you can think of

Without energy, there would be nothing: no life, no movement, no light, no heat, no

you, no me nothing.

But there is a problem with energy. Some people have got

used to using far too much of it. This means that there's not
enough for everyone. And using some kinds of energy
causes terrible pollution and makes the Earth's climate get
hotter.

What is energy?

Energy is the ability to do work. It's what

you get when you burn fuel (= stored energy) to move something
like a car or kick a ball (= do work). That fuel can be stuff like coal
or gas or the hydrogen which powers the sun. What you get is
heat and light energy. You can feel the heat from a fire or from the
sun on your skin. And sunlight makes our
daytime.

Energy can be changed from one form

to another but itcan't be created or
destroyed.
People have learned to use stored energy
to do useful work for them. By burning
coal, you can use the chemical
energy stored in the coal to heat up water
until it becomes steam which then drives large machines to
generate electricity. Electricity is another form of energy and it
too can be made to do useful work, like running your washing
machine or powering your computer and mp3 player. But
electricity doesn't have to be made by burning coal. It can be
made from renewable energy sources like wind and water power.
It can also be made by nuclear power, yet another source of
energy. Whichever way electricity is made, it's changing one form
of energy to another.
Types of Energy

Potential energy is stored in a body and has the potential to

do work. There are four types:
1. Chemical: energy stored in things like the food you eat, fossil
fuels and explosives
2. Elastic: energy stored in a stretched elastic band or spring, for
example
3. Gravitational: the energy a body has because it's near to
another large body, like a planet. If a big hole opened up under

you, you'd be pulled (fall) down it because of the pull (=

energy) of Earth's gravity
4. Nuclear: energy stored in the nucleus of atoms. This energy is
used in nuclear power stations to generate heat. The Sun and
all the other stars shine because of the energy released when
atomic nuclei split or fuse together

There are many different types of energy but they're really all
variations of one (or some) of these:
Heat: if you touch something hot, it can be very painful as that heat
flows into you
Kinetic: this is the energy which a moving body has. If someone
kicks a ball hard and it hits you, it hurts because your body has had
to suddenly absorb all that energy and stop the ball
Electrical: this is the kinetic energy of moving charges in an
electrical circuit. One example is electricity flowing through a light
bulb. It makes both heat and light by passing through a resistance
(the light bulb's filament)
Electromagnetic: light and other radiation
are all forms of electromagnetic energy
Where do we animals get energy from?
Almost all energy comes from the sun which
warms our planet and makes plants grow.
Plants are smart because they can use the
suns energy not only to make them grow,
but also to make energy stores.

Most plants make

grow into new plants.
humans eat them make into bread;
cornflakes and so on.
your energy from

seeds, some of which

And animals like you
you know, wheat seeds
maize into popcorn or
This means you get
eating plants, or by
eating other animals

like cows which have

fed off plants.

I get my energy from eating fish...

...which ate smaller fish which ate shrimpy things...
...which ate (you got it!) tiny plants called plankton.
This is called a food web or food chain.

Potential Energy
Potential energy is stored energy
and the energy of position
gravitational energy. There are
several forms of potential
energy.

Kinetic Energy
Kinetic energy is motion of
waves, electrons, atoms,
molecules, substances, and
objects.

Chemical Energy is energy

stored in the bonds of atoms and
molecules. Batteries, biomass,
petroleum, natural gas, and coal
are examples of stored chemical
energy. Chemical energy is
converted to thermal energy when
we burn wood in a fireplace or
burn gasoline in a car's engine.
Mechanical Energy is energy
stored in objects by tension.
Compressed springs and
stretched rubber bands are
examples of stored mechanical
energy.

Radiant Energy is
electromagnetic energy that
travels in transverse waves.
Radiant energy includes visible
light, x-rays, gamma rays and
radio waves. Light is one type of
radiant energy. Sunshine is
radiant energy, which provides
the fuel and warmth that make
life on Earth possible.

Thermal Energy, or heat, is the

vibration and movement of the
atoms and molecules within
substances. As an object is heated
up, its atoms and molecules move
Nuclear Energy is energy stored and collide faster. Geothermal
energy is the thermal energy in
in the nucleus of an atom the
the Earth.
energy that holds the nucleus
together. Very large amounts of
Motion Energy is energy stored
energy can be released when the in the movement of objects. The
nuclei are combined or split apart. faster they move, the more
Nuclear power plants split the
energy is stored. It takes energy
nuclei of uranium atoms in a
to get an object moving, and
process called fission. The sun
energy is released when an object
combines the nuclei of hydrogen
slows down. Wind is an example
atoms in a process called fusion. of motion energy. A dramatic
Gravitational Energy is energy example of motion is a car crash,
when the car comes to a total
stored in an object's height. The
higher and heavier the object, the stop and releases all its motion
energy at once in an uncontrolled
more gravitational energy is
instant.
stored. When you ride a bicycle
down a steep hill and pick up
speed, the gravitational energy is
being converted to motion energy.
Hydropower is another example of
gravitational energy, where the
dam "piles" up water from a river
into a reservoir.

Sound is the movement of

energy through substances in
longitudinal
(compression/rarefaction) waves.
Sound is produced when a force
causes an object or substance to
vibrate the energy is
transferred through the substance
in a wave. Typically, the energy in

sound is far less than other forms

of energy.
Electrical Energy is delivered by
tiny charged particles called
electrons, typically moving
through a wire. Lightning is an
example of electrical energy in
nature, so powerful that it is not
confined to a wire.