In Unit 4, we began our journey to understanding energy. We discussed the fact that energy is the ability to do work. We defined work as moving an object over a distance against a force. We defined power as the amount of work done over time. We also defined a few of the common energy units: the Joule, calorie, horsepower and Watt. We covered some confusing stuff, but don’t feel bad if you’re having trouble with it. It takes a while for this to sink in. In this Unit 5, we’re going to talk about the two main categories of energy: potential and kinetic. We will talk about transfer of energy and we will also discuss conservation of energy and energy efficiency.
One of the best things you can do with this unit is to take notes in a journal as you go. Snap photos of yourself doing the actual experiment and paste them in alongside your drawing of your experimental setup. This is the same way scientists document their own findings, and it's a lot of fun to look back at the splattered pages later on and see how far you've come. I always jot down my questions that didn't get answered with the experiment across the top of the page so I can research it more later. Are you ready to get started?