Wasted Energy
- In practice, most systems tend to be open systems
- When energy transfers occur that are not useful, these are described as energy being dissipated to the surroundings
- Dissipated just means spread out
- This is considered to be wasted energy
- Often these less useful energy transfers often involve heating, light and sound
- When energy is transferred to the thermal stores of the objects, the temperature of the objects increases
- The particles that make up the objects vibrate more, hence the transfer pathway is by heating (of the particles)
- Visible light is electromagnetic radiation
- Therefore, when light is produced, energy is transferred by radiation
- When sound is produced, the sound waves make the air particles vibrate as the wave carries energy away
- This increases the energy in the thermal store of the air, hence the transfer pathway is by heating (of the particles)
- Useful energy can be defined as:
The energy that is transferred from store to store and used for an intended purpose
- Wasted energy can be defined as:
The energy that is not useful for the intended purpose and is dissipated to the surroundings
Worked example
A student uses an electric motor to lift a load.The motor turns a mechanism that lifts the load. Some of the energy transfers are useful and the rest of the energy is wasted.
a) State the useful energy transfer occurring in this system.
b) State the wasted energy transfer occurring in this system.
Part (a)
-
- The motor turns the mechanism that lifts the load
- Therefore, the useful transfer is:
- Energy in the kinetic store of the motor is transferred to the gravitational potential store of the load
Part (b)
-
- As the motor operates, friction causes a rise in the temperature of the components and the surroundings
- In this case, the energy transfer from the kinetic store of the motor to the thermal store of the motor and the surroundings is not useful, hence it is a wasted energy transfer
- Energy is dissipated, by heating, to the surroundings
Examiner Tip
Make sure you are able to identify "useful" and "wasted" energy as this is commonly tested in exams! When describing wasted energy, make sure to say the energy is dissipated to the surroundings, if you say the energy is simply "lost", this will not gain you the mark as it implies energy is not conserved.