Energy - Key Terms

• System


  an object or group of objects
• Energy


  a measure of the capacity of a body or system to do work
• Kinetic energy


  the energy of motion of an object, equal to the work it would do if brought to rest
• Gravitational potential energy (GPE)


  the energy gained by raising an object above ground level (due to the force of gravity)
• Elastic energy


  the energy stored in a stretched / compressed elastic object, like a spring
• Internal energy


  the sum of the energy of all the particles that make up a system, i.e. the total kinetic and potential energy of all the particles added together
• Specific heat capacity


  the amount of energy required to raise the temperature of one kilogram of substance by one degree Celsius
• Reproducible

  results are reproducible if the investigation / experiment can be repeated by another person, or by using different equipment / techniques, and the same results are obtained, demonstrating that the results are reliable
• Transferred

  refers to how energy is changed, e.g. chemical energy can be transferred to electric energy
• Dissipated


  wasted, scattered or spread out (to the surroundings)
• Conductivity


  a measure of the ability of a substance to conduct electricity
• Anomalous


  a data value that is significantly above or below the expected value / outside a pattern or trend
• Renewable

  can be replaced