Energy

Energy is the ability to do work. It can be exerted on a system to
produce
a variety of results, as well as stored within a system through
chemical
bonds. Energy can be used or stored but never created or destroyed.
Though
energy cant be created or destroyed, it can be interchanged from one
form
to another as well as dissipate into to the atmosphere as heat (thermal
energy). Energy comes in variety of forms such as electromagnetic,
potential, thermal, kinetic, and can be used and converted from one for
to
another to produce a desired effect.

Stored energy can be released through chemical reactions such as
combustion. Combustion is an exothermic (releases heat or thermal
energy as
a result of a reaction) reaction that by nature release heat or thermal
energy. The fuel reacts with oxygen to produce a new element and
release
the chemical energy stored in the fuel. The energy released can be
harnessed and used to power machines and other commercial purposes.

The thermal energy released by combustion behaves according to the four
laws of thermodynamics. The laws of thermodynamics restate the law of
conservation of energy (energy can neither be created or destroyed just
chained from on form to another) as well as define the boundaries of
nature, describing that perpetual motion and absolute zero kelvin
cannot be
reached. The thermal energy also can be defined by the specific heat of
the
surroundings. The specific heat of a substance is its amount of energy
that
1gram of a substance needs to be raised by 1 degree Celsius. This could
be
used to measure the energy output of a substance undergoing combustion
as
well as the original amount of energy stored within the system. In our
experiment we used a rudimentary calorimeter system to measure the
amount
of Joules and Calories stored within a single Pringle. Materials and
Methods Materials: Pringle chips, water, heat souse Methods: The
Pringle
chip was placed in a crucible to be...