Energy Transferred by Working
Energy and Thermal Physics

Focusing on energy changes

Classroom Activity for 11-14 Supporting Physics Teaching

What the Activity is for

The purpose of this activity is to emphasise the point that care must be taken when selecting aspects of a process to describe in terms of energy.

What to Prepare

  • Two interactive objects, which offers a choice of changes to study

download and unzip files to use

download and unzip files to use

We provide an image, but you can use any single image that you want, so that you can explore the process of choosing what to study in your own context.

What Happens During this Activity

Launch the first interactive object, then discuss the placement of the box that decides what you'll study and describe. What are you going to include and exclude? Why are you including or excluding those pieces?

If you want to use your own photograph, first export the interactive object, then replace the image file (image.jpg) with your own image. Your own image must be named image.jpg.

Launch the second interactive object, then choose where to place the box, so defining the change carefully. Discuss where you will start and where you will end the change as you run through the photograph sequence. What are you going to include and exclude? Why are you including or excluding these processes?

If you want to use your own photographs, first export the interactive object, then replace the image files with your own. Your own must be named image1.jpg, image2.jpg, image3.jpg, image4.jpg and image5.jpg. You'll find it helpful if the images record exactly the same piece of space but at different times.

Resources

Download the interactive for this activity.

Energy Transferred by Working
appears in the relation dU=dQ+dW
is used in analyses relating to Working Engines Thermionic Emission
is a special case of Work
has the special case Potential Energy Kinetic Energy
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