Today's Big Q: What Is Energy?

Energy comes in different forms:

• Heat (thermal)
• Light (radiant)
• Motion (kinetic)
• Electrical
• Chemical
• Nuclear energy

There are two types of energy:

• Stored (potential) energy
• Working (kinetic) energy

For example, the food a person eats contains chemical energy, and a person's body stores this energy until he or she uses it as kinetic energy during work or play.

Energy sources can be categorized as renewable or non-renewable

When people use electricity in their homes, the electrical power was probably generated by burning coal, by a nuclear reaction, or by a hydroelectric plant on a river, to name just a few sources. Therefore, coal, nuclear, and hydro are called energy sources. When people fill up a gas tank, the source might be petroleum refined from crude oil or ethanol made by growing and processing corn.

Energy sources are divided into two groups:

• Renewable (an energy source that can be easily replenished)
• Non-renewable (an energy source that cannot be easily replenished)

Renewable and non-renewable energy sources can be used as primary energy sources to produce useful energy such as heat or used to produce secondary energy sources such as electricity.

When people use electricity in their homes, the electrical power was probably generated from burning coal or natural gas, a nuclear reaction, or a hydroelectric plant on a river, to name a few possible energy sources. The gasoline people use to fuel their cars is made from crude oil (non-renewable energy) and may contain a bio fuel (renewable energy) like ethanol, which is made from processed corn.

Renewable energy

• Solar energy from the sun
• Geothermal energy from heat inside the earth
• Wind energy
• Biomass from plants
• Hydro-power from flowing water

Non-renewable energy

• Petroleum products
• Hydrocarbon gas liquids
• Natural gas
• Coal
• Nuclear energy

Feel free to drop your questions in the comment section. I’ll try my best to answer it, inshaallah. Thanks for visiting this blog. Don’t forget to share it okay?