Energy Essays

Energy Essays Energy Essay Energy Essay Energy is the ability to do work. It can be exerted on a system to produce a variety of results, as well as stored within a system through chemical bonds. Energy can be used or stored but never created or destroyed. Though energy cant be created or destroyed, it can be interchanged from one form to another as well as dissipate into to the atmosphere as heat (thermal energy). Energy comes in variety of forms such as electromagnetic, potential, thermal, kinetic, and can be used and converted from one for to another to produce a desired effect. Stored energy can be released through chemical reactions such as combustion. Combustion is an exothermic (releases heat or thermal energy as a result of a reaction) reaction that by nature release heat or thermal energy. The fuel reacts with oxygen to produce a new element and release the chemical energy stored in the fuel. The energy released can be harnessed and used to power machines and other commercial purposes. The thermal energy released by combustion behaves according to the four laws of thermodynamics. The laws of thermodynamics restate the law of conservation of energy (energy can neither be created or destroyed just chained from on form to another) as well as define the boundaries of nature, describing that perpetual motion and absolute zero kelvin cannot be reached. The thermal energy also can be defined by the specific heat of the surroundings. The specific heat of a substance is its amount of energy that 1gram of a substance needs to be raised by 1 degree Celsius. This could be used to measure the energy output of a substance undergoing combustion as well as the original amount of energy stored within the system. In our experiment we used a rudimentary calorimeter system to measure the amount of Joules and Calories stored within a single Pringle. Materials and Methods Materials: Pringle chips, water, heat souse Methods: The Pringle chip was placed in a crucible to be prepared for combustion. 25 grams of water was placed above the crucible with the temperature marked off. The chip was set on fire and was allowed to heat the water. The end temperature was measured and the amount of energy was calculated. The test was repeated three times and the different values were recorded. Results Formula q = C x mass of H2O x ?T where q is a value in joules or calories (units of energy) and C is the heat capacity Test 1 25g H2O heated from the original temp. of 19.5? °C by the chip resulted in 35? °C 1 x 15.5 ?T x 25g = 387.5 calories 4.184 x 15.5 ?T x 25g = 1621.3 J Test 2 25g H2O heated from the original temp. of 23? °C by the chip resulted in 39? °C 1 x 16 ?T x 25g = 400 calories 4.184 x 16 ?T x 25g = 1673.3 J Test 2 25g H2O heated from the original temp. of 22? °C by the chip resulted in 37? °C 1 x 15?T x 25g = 375 calories 4.184 x 15?T x 25g = 1569 J Test average 387.5 calories 1621.2 J The results showed that on average there are about 387.5 calories per chip (not to be confused with Kilo Calories which are used in commercial production) that were able to be absorbed by the rudimentary calorimeter. Discussion By the nature of the experimental design the results only provided a rudimentary demonstration of energy release through combustion and not an accurate measure of the calories nor the joules within each chip. Through the energy was absorbed by the water the mass of the energy is lost to the atmosphere. The huge losses in energy are explainable by the lack of insulation around the burning chip and the fact that most of the energy just went around the container of the water without transferring any to the water. A more accurate measurement would have been achieved if a bomb calorimeter was used. (figure to the right) The bomb calorimeter would have incinerated the chip and accurately display the amount of calories contained within the chip. The insulation provided by the calorimeter would have been sufficient to capture all of the energy released by combustion. The results show that per every chip there was roughly a 387.5 calorie count. This means that per every chip burned the amount of energy released heated up 25 grams of water by roughly 15.3? °C. This compared to the information on the box the 7500 calories actual which resulted in a pitiful percent error. 94.8% of the energy that the chip was supposed to give off was lost to the atmosphere, proving the inefficiently of the rudimentary experimental design. Overall the experiment provided a theoretical visual of the energy flow between substances and a way to measure the amount of energy contained within a system. This proses is applied to food production to give the consumer accurate information about the food digested. The human stomach however is much more efficient then a bomb calorimeter and uses/stores 100% of the energy consumed. LAWS OF THERMODYNAMICS. Estrella Mountain Commuity College. Web. 16 Mar. 2010. . Specific Heat. Test Page for Apache Installation. Web. 16 Mar. 2010. . What Is Energy Massachusetts Technology Collaborative. Web. 16 Mar. 2010. . What Is Potential Energy. TJHSST Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. Web. 16 Mar. 2010.