Energy

My everyday object is my car. Can you think how the car works? First there is an energy conserved for it. And this energy is transformed from one type to another.

The car needs a continuous supply of fuel which is the petrol. In the car the starter motor kicks over the engine before the oxygen using fuel can take over. This process requires the stored energy to be replaced (car battery). The energy released by the combustion of fuel causes the pistons to move, which then cause the motion of the vehicle. The heat produced by the combustion of fuels needs to be removed. The motor is cooled by water flow around the engine.

The car converts chemical energy (in the petrol) to kinetic energy. This process takes place as follows: energy is introduced from the outside by adding gasoline to the car's fuel tank. Gasoline is an effective source of chemical energy where this energy is released when gasoline reacts with oxygen from the air (combustion). During combustion the chemical energy is converted into heat. Most of this heat is lost to the outside environment as exhaust and radiator heat. Some of the heat from the combustion, however, is converted into work which in turn is converted into kinetic energy. Additional heat is lost as friction in the drive shaft and other moving parts of the car turns some of this kinetic energy into heat. The remainder of this kinetic energy is dissipated through air resistance and heat from the brakes (used to slow down). Almost all the chemical energy stored in gasoline.

In the universe there is an unlimited amount of energy. This energy can't be created nor destroyed, but it can be converted from one type to another.