Energy transformation

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In physics, the term [energy] describes the amount of work which may potentially be done by forces within a system. Changes in energy in systems can only be accomplished by adding or subtracting energy from them, as energy is a quantity which is conserved. (Loosely, changes in the energy of systems also coincide with changes in the system's mass).

Energy in a system may be transformed so that it resides in a different state. Energy in many states may be used to do many varieties of physical work. Energy may be used in natural processes or machines, or else to provide some service to society (such as heat, light, or motion). For example, an internal combustion engine converts the potential chemical energy in gasoline and oxygen into heat, which is then transformed into the propulsive energy (kinetic energy that moves a vehicle. A solar cell converts solar radiation into electrical energy that can then be used to light a bulb or power a computer.

The generic name for a device which converts energy from one form to another is transducer.

For more information about Energy transformation, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.


News tagged with energy transfer

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Some fundamental interactions of matter found to be fundamentally different than thought

Physics / General Physics

created Jul 02, 2008 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (60) | comments 4

Collisions have consequences. Everyone knows that. Whether it's between trains, planes, automobiles or atoms, there are always repercussions. But while macroscale collisions may have the most obvious effects - mangled steel, ...


 perpetual motion machine

Could Exotic Matter Provide an Infinite Source of Energy?

Physics / General Physics

created Sep 15, 2009 | popularity 3.3 / 5 (34) | comments 63

(PhysOrg.com) -- Generally, scientists prefer to avoid the concept of perpetual motion. The idea of a machine that could produce movement that goes on forever, and using that movement to generate an endless ...


Scientists discover surprise in Earth's upper atmosphere

Scientists discover surprise in Earth's upper atmosphere

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Sep 10, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (23) | comments 5

(PhysOrg.com) -- UCLA atmospheric scientists have discovered a previously unknown basic mode of energy transfer from the solar wind to the Earth's magnetosphere. The research, federally funded by the National ...


Sony develops highly efficient wireless power transfer system based on magnetic resonance

Sony develops highly efficient wireless power transfer system based on magnetic resonance

Technology / Engineering

created Oct 02, 2009 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (13) | comments 7

Sony Corp. today announced the development of a highly efficient wireless power transfer system that eliminates the use of power cables from electronic products such as television sets. Using this system, ...


Explaining the Mystery of the Voyager

Physics / General Physics

created Feb 27, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (10) | comments 2

With a new 3D-model for energy simulation scientists from Bochum, Germany, and Huntsville, USA, are studying the 'physical mystery' of the Voyager. Over 30 years ago the spacecraft detected particles in solar wind which were ...


Energy simulation may explain turbulence mystery

Physics / General Physics

created Feb 26, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (7) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- A new 3D model linking magnetic fields to the transfer of energy in space might help solve a physics mystery first observed in the solar wind 15 years ago.


Think zinc: Molecular sensor could reveal zinc's role in diseases

Think zinc: Molecular sensor could reveal zinc's role in diseases

Medicine & Health / Research

created Aug 30, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (5) | comments 0

Scientists have developed a new molecular sensor that can reveal the amount of zinc in cells, which could tell us more about a number of diseases, including type 2 diabetes. The research, published today in ...


'Taco shell' protein: Orientation of middle man in photosynthetic bacteria described

'Taco shell' protein: Orientation of middle man in photosynthetic bacteria described

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Apr 13, 2009 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (3) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have figured out the orientation of a protein in the antenna complex to its neighboring membrane in a photosynthetic bacterium, a key find ...


UGA, UPR grant license for long-persistence glow materials, in any color

UGA, UPR grant license for long-persistence glow materials, in any color

Physics / Optics & Photonics

created Aug 17, 2009 | popularity 3.3 / 5 (3) | comments 2

The University of Georgia Research Foundation, Inc. (UGARF) and the University of Puerto Rico have granted an international, non-exclusive license for a portfolio of glow-in-the-dark pigments that can be designed ...


Scientists 'watch' as individual alpha-synuclein proteins change shape

Medicine & Health / Research

created Mar 16, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

In an Early Edition publication of The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) this week, the researchers demonstrate the "alpha-synuclein dance" - the switching back and forth of the protein between a ben ...


Monitoring Cancer Cell Changes With Quantum Dots

Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine

created Jul 23, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

One of the earliest events that changes a normal cell into a malignant one is known as deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) hypermethylation, a biochemical alteration that inactivates critical tumor-suppressor genes. A team of investigators ...


Research shows power of FRET-based approach for distinguishing among distinct states of proteins

Medicine & Health / Research

created Nov 30, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

In the December 2009 issue of the Journal of General Physiology, Moss et al. report a comprehensive investigation employing Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) to study the {gamma}-amino acid (GABA) transporter GAT1, ...


Live recordings of cell communication

Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine

created Aug 06, 2009 | popularity 3 / 5 (1) | comments 2

Neurons communicate with each other with the help of nano-sized vesicles. Disruption of this communication process is responsible for many diseases and mental disorders like e.g. depression. Nerve signals travel from one ...


Orientation of antenna protein in photosynthetic bacteria described

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Apr 02, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have figured out the orientation of a protein in the antenna complex to its neighboring membrane in a photosynthetic bacterium, a key find in the process of energy transfer ...


White glow: Dye-doped DNA nanofibers emit white light

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Jul 08, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Efficient energy transport plays an important role in the development of optoelectonic materials. The true masters of energy transfer via a hierarchical arrangement of different molecules are the photosynthetic ...