Chapter 3

Energy

The following Topics and Sub-Topics are covered in this chapter and are available on MSVgo:

Introduction

Every organism needs energy to sustain its life on this planet. Humans need energy to carry out their day-to-day activities; plants need energy to grow and convert into food and fodder. Even the sun needs energy to burn and radiate energy to the earth. You must have heard that helium gas is burning on the sun’s surface, producing a lot of energy to be radiated in the universe. When we talk of energy, many students think that only fire is a source of energy, and although fire is a good source of energy, it is not the only source. If you want to know the process of conversion of energy, then read this blog. 

There are many different types of energy, as listed below.

  1. Thermal energy
  2. Geothermal energy
  3. Wind energy
  4. Solar energy
  5. Thermal energy
  6. Hydroelectric energy
  7. Biomass energy
  8. Nuclear energy 

Machines are any tool that leverage the force applied and convert it into useful application either by multiplying, dividing or distributing the force. The next section will deal with the six different types of simple machines commonly used by humans.

The six different types of simple machines are given below.

  • Inclined Plane: Inclined planes are used to raise, lift or roll heavy objects through their sloping plane surface that remains attached to the ground. When you go to the mall and use the cart to take your things from one floor to another, you may have seen a long ramp on which you can move your trolley to reach the above floor. These inclined ramps are inclined planes and are extremely helpful in lifting heavy objects without making much effort. Some other examples are conveyor belts, switchback roads, sidewalk ramps and more.
  • Wheel and Axle: In movies or your village, you must have seen the well from which people draw out water using the bucket that is holding on to a wheel situated on the top. You need to rotate the axle to let the wheel unfold the bucket rope, and hence the bucket moves down. Afterwards, the axle is again rotated in the reverse direction to bring the bucket up.
  • Pulley: This device is similar to the axle and wheel but has been simplified more by directly using the rope on the wheel as a mechanical advantage. Hence you have one side of the rope and can pull it through the wheel. Pulleys are extensively used in lifts, flag poles, lifting heavy objects and more.
  • Lever: This simple machine balances the effort and load and hinges on the fulcrum. If you have seen the see-saw, then you can visualise it easily. This mechanism is used to measure weights at shops where they put kilos on one side and things on the other side. The different orders of levers are FEL, LFE, LEF, ELF, where E is effort, L is load, and F is the fulcrum.
  • Wedge: A wedge is a simple machine that multiplies the force and helps in breaking things. For example, if you take a screw with two sides, one side is flat and used for hammering, while the other side is narrower and used to break into things. Thus when we apply the force on the flat surface, the whole force is concentrated at a single narrow point, making it break into things.
  • Screw: It is an inclined plane wrapped around a shaft that helps in drilling into things to hold two things together. Some common examples include car jack, spiral staircase, bolt, clamp and more. The screw converts the rotational motion into linear motion.

Energy is an omnipresent entity that is essential for survival. We gain energy from food, but also medicines, sun, environment, mood and more. Hence it becomes important to work and live well. We get energy through food and other means. This energy can create a force and be used on simple machines that make our life easier.

Apart from simple machines, we also have complex machines made from the combination of two or more simple machines and are used to perform some specialised tasks.

  1. What are the applications of the simple machine in our daily lives?
    Simple machines make our life easier by assisting us in day-to-day work such as moving across different apartment floors, travelling, drinking from bottles, fixing things, and more.
  2. What type of machine is the broom?
    A broom is a type of lever as you apply force at the middle of the broom, the top is the fulcrum which controls the direction, and the bottom sweeps the floor.
  3. How many types of simple machines are there?
    There are six different types of simple machines: the lever, screw, wedge, wheel and axle, pulley, and inclined plane.
  4. How can energy be transformed into other forms?
    Energy is convertible and requires a catalyst/ force to be converted into other forms of energy. For example, solar energy is trapped in the panels. The heat is used to boil the water to generate thermal energy.
  5. What is the law of conservation of energy?
    The law of conservation of energy states that in an isolated system, the total energy remains constant.

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