12 interesting energy facts
- Energy is the ability to do work. It comes in different forms thermal (heat), radiant (light), mechanical, electrical, chemical, and nuclear energy.
- In physics, energy is a quantity that can be assigned to every particle, object, and system of objects as a consequence of the state of that particle, object or system of objects.
- Food is stored energy. It is stored as a chemical with potential energy. When your body uses that stored energy to do work, it becomes kinetic energy.
- The bicycle is the most efficient form of transportation known. It uses five times less energy than walking.
- In the SI system of units, energy is measured in joules.
- Different forms of energy include kinetic, potential, thermal, gravitational, sound, elastic, light, and electromagnetic energy.
- German physicist Hermann von Helmholtz established that all forms of energy are equivalent - energy in one form can disappear but the same amount of energy will appear in another form.
- The connection Einstein discovered between energy and mass is expressed in the equation E=mc². Here E represents energy, m represents mass, and c2 is the square of the speed of light.
- Renewable energy sources are solar energy, wind energy, geothermal energy, hydropower, bioenergy (bioethanol, biodiesel), ocean energy (tidal power, wave energy, Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion -OTEC).
- Photovoltaic cells offer a simple way to get electricity. Solar energy is sustainable and clean energy source.
- In physics, the law of conservation of energy states that the total amount of energy in any isolated system remains constant but cannot be recreated, although it may change forms.
- Ordinary fossil fuel power plants convert between 36% and 48% of the fuel's energy into electricity, with the remainder being lost as waste heat.
