ENERGY AND ITS TYPES

Energy is the capacity to do work. Energy comes in various forms, such as motion, heat, light, electrical, chemical, nuclear energy, and gravitational. Total energy is the sum of all forms of the energy a system possesses. In the absence of magnetic, electrical and surface tension effects, the total energy of a system consists of the kinetic, potential, and internal energies. The internal energy of a system is made up of sensible, latent, chemical, and nuclear energies. The sensible internal energy is due to translational, rotational, and vibrational effects of atoms and molecules. Thermal energy is the sensible and latent forms of internal energy. The classification of energy into different ‘‘types’’ often follows the boundaries of the fields of study in the natural sciences. For example, chemical energy is the kind of potential energy stored in chemical bonds, and nuclear energy is the energy stored in interactions between the particles in the atomic nucleus. Microscopic forms of energy are related to the molecular structure of a system and they are independent of outside reference frames.

Hydrogen represents a store of potential energy that can be released by fusion of hydrogen in the Sun. Some of the fusion energy is then transformed into sunlight, which may again be stored as gravitational potential energy after it strikes the earth. For example, water evaporates from the oceans, may be deposited on elevated parts of the earth, and after being released at a hydroelectric dam, it can drive turbines to produce energy in the form of electricity. Atmospheric phenomena like wind, rain, snow, and hurricanes, are all a result of energy transformations brought about by solar energy on the atmosphere of the earth. Sunlight is also captured by plants as chemical potential energy in photosynthesis, when carbon dioxide and water are converted into carbohydrates, lipids, and proteins. This chemical potential energy is responsible for growth and development of a biological cell. The unit of Energy is BTU in English system.