Pearson Edexcel · GCSE · Physics
Course version: 1PH0 · Version from Sept 2016
Describe the changes involved in the way energy is stored when systems…
Full specification wording
Topic 8 – Energy – forces doing work: 8.1 Describe the changes involved in the way energy is stored when systems change
Energy is conserved overall, but the way it is stored changes as a system changes.
Checked against the Pearson Edexcel 1PH0 specification (opens in a new tab) on .
- Point 1 of 15
Study notes
From the checked teaching notes for this specification point.
The idea
Energy is conserved overall, but the way it is stored changes as a system changes. Learn to name the store before and after an event and to say what causes the transfer. A ball lifted higher gains energy in its gravitational store as its height increases; a stretched spring stores energy elastically; a moving trolley has energy in its kinetic store; a warm object has energy in its internal (thermal) store. When a falling ball speeds up, energy moves from the gravitational store to the kinetic store, and friction with the air also transfers some to the internal store of the surroundings. A battery-powered motor transfers energy from a chemical store to kinetic and internal stores. Identify the system, the stores that decrease and increase, and the mechanism of transfer.
What earns the marks
- Names the energy store that decreases and the store that increases when a system changes.
- States that the total energy is conserved even though the way it is stored changes.
- Identifies the mechanism of transfer, such as heating, work done by a force or an electric current.
- Distinguishes a store from a pathway, for example gravitational store rather than 'gravitational energy flow'.
- Applies the description to a named example such as a falling ball or a stretched spring.
Common mistakes and how to put them right
Treats energy as used up or destroyed.
Put it right: State instead that energy is conserved and only its store changes.
Confuses a store with a transfer pathway.
Put it right: Name the store (kinetic, gravitational, elastic, chemical, internal) and the pathway separately.
Ignores transfers to the surroundings.
Put it right: Include the internal store of the surroundings when friction or air resistance acts.
Exam tips
- Read the stem to find the system and the change before choosing an option.
- Eliminate any option that says energy is lost or destroyed.
- Check that the option names both the store that decreases and the store that increases.
Try the lesson
The start of the Topic 8 – Energy – forces doing work: 8.1 Describe the changes involved in the way energy is stored when systems change lesson, made from checked teaching notes for this specification point.
Have a go first
A book is lifted from a table and held higher above the floor. Which energy store of the book increases?
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