Energy and Perpetual Motion Machines

Key Concepts

• Energy produces change in a system.
• Different forms of energy exist.
• Energy can be transferred or transformed.
• Physical quantities contribute to different energy forms.

Curricular Competencies

• Make observations to identify questions about the natural world.
• Use scientific knowledge to draw conclusions consistent with evidence.
• Generate and introduce/refine ideas.

Properties of Energy

• Perpetual motion machines are machines that run forever.
• The dream of perpetual motion machines has existed for hundreds of years.
• Leonardo da Vinci designed perpetual motion machines.
• Perpetual motion machines transfer and transform energy, but energy is never lost.
• Perpetual motion machines do not need a push, fuel, or additional energy source once running..
• Despite designs, da Vinci believed perpetual motion machines would not work, and couldn't..
• Countless people have tried to create perpetual motion machines.

Starting Points

• Review existing knowledge about energy and its properties.
• Create a perpetual motion machine model.
• Understand energy transformations in traditional First Peoples technologies.

Key Terms

• Energy
• Surroundings
• Potential energy
• System
• Kinetic energy
• Law of conservation of energy

Concept 1

• Energy can produce change in a system.

Activity

• Reflect on an activity and think about the roles of energy.
• Discuss energy in small groups.
• Share descriptions with the class.

Concept 2

• Different forms of energy exist.

Kinetic Energy

• The energy of motion.
• Any object in motion has kinetic energy.

Potential Energy

• Stored energy.
• Energy due to an object's position/condition.
• Chemical compounds store potential energy.
• Objects above the ground store potential energy.

Concept 3

• Energy can be transferred or transformed.
• Energy is neither created nor destroyed.
• Energy transformations result in a total amount of energy remaining the same.
• Energy may transform from one form to another or transfer between objects.

Concept 4

• Physical quantities contribute to different forms of energy.
• Activity: Energy thought experiments to identify quantities that contribute to mechanical kinetic and gravitational potential energy.

Energy and Systems

• Anything under observation is a system.
• Everything else (outside the system) is the surroundings.
• Universe = System + Surroundings

Open Systems

• Exchange energy and matter with surroundings.
• Example: Boiling potatoes in an uncovered pot, where heat and steam (matter) escape.

Closed Systems

• Exchange energy, but not matter, with surroundings.
• Example: Boiling potatoes inside a pressure cooker, where heat is exchanged but matter is contained.

Isolated Systems

• Cannot exchange energy or matter with surroundings.
• Example: Perfectly insulated system (very difficult to achieve in real life, e.g. cooking potatoes in a theoretically perfectly insulated container).

Energy Transfer and Transformation

• Whenever a system releases energy, the surroundings absorb it.
• Energy transformations involve changes in form.
• Energy transfer involves similar energy forms.

Additional Concepts/Activities

• Energy transformations and transfers in everyday life.
• Use of equations to calculate mechanical kinetic and gravitational potential energy.

Explore the fascinating concepts of energy and its transformation in this quiz. Discover the historical context of perpetual motion machines and the scientific principles behind energy transfer. Test your understanding of energy forms and their relevance in the natural world.