Thursday, June 30, 2011
Forms of energy Part 5 - Types of Chemical Energy
Another cool thing that happened in the discussion of the germinating plant: They decided they needed two different types of chemical energy. Chemical energy that is being stored - indicated by putting your hand to your mouth and holding it still, and chemical energy that is being used - indicated by putting your hand to your mouth and moving it back and forth like you're eating. I don't understand exactly why they needed these two to be separate. But I think it had something to do with their concern about how things can use chemical energy when they're not receiving any energy: e.g. a runner running while not eating, or a plant growing while still underground.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
This idea of two kinds of chemical energy was brought up again today in the big discussion of chemical energy. By the end of the conversation they seemed to agree that chemical energy would always refer to energy that is stored and that once energy is no longer being stored, it has been transformed to another type of energy and is no longer chemical.
ReplyDelete