Heat, Light and Sound

= Energy
 First let’s talk about
🟇
energy.
Energy is when
something has the
ability to do work.
🟇 Examples: fire can
make heat
energy, the sun
can make light
energy and a
trumpet can make
sound energy.
Forms of energy waves
🟇 Many forms of energy
travel in waves.
🟇 Mechanical waves, like
sound waves, seismic
waves and water waves,
need a medium to travel
through. A medium is
anything in which an
energy wave can flow
through.
🟇 Electromagnetic waves
like visible light and radio
waves can travel through
nothing as well as many
 Waves
🟇 Energy often travels in
waves and the strength of
the energy depends on how
high the wave is or how
close the waves are
together.
🟇 Transverse waves move at
a right angle to the energy
flow.
🟇 The highest point of a
transverse waves is called
a crest and the lowest point
is called a trough.
 Wavelength
🟇 Wavelength is
the distance
between two
crests of a wave
or two troughs.
 Amplitude
🟇 Amplitude is the
measure of how
much energy a
wave is carrying.
🟇 The greater the
amplitude, the
greater the
energy.
 Frequency
🟇 The frequency is the
number of waves that pass
by a set point in a second.

🟇 Frequency is measured in
hertz (waves per second).

🟇 Frequency is related to
wavelength. The larger the
wavelength the lower the
frequency. The smaller the
wave length the higher the
frequency.

🟇 The higher the frequency

the greater the energy.
 What do you think?
🟇 What has more energy?
🟇 A wave with a high
amplitude and a short
wave length.
🟇 Or a wave with a long
wavelength and a short
amplitude.
🟇 The wave with a high
amplitude and a short
wavelength has a lot
more energy.
 Heat
🟇 Heat is the total amount of
energy an object has
because of its moving
molecules.
🟇 Heat is capable of being
transmitted through solids
and liquids by conduction,
through fluid media by
convection, and through
empty space by radiation.
 Temperature vs. Heat
Heat is the total amount of
energy in a system
Temperature is a measure
of the average kinetic Consider each glass to be a
system
energy of each atom in that
system.
Example:
Both glasses have the Same Lower
same temperature Higher
temperature heat
heat
(molecules are moving
at same speed) but a
different heat because
the glass with more
water has more
molecules moving
around to transfer the
energy.
 Conduction
🟇 Conductor- remember a
conductor is an object that allows
energy (like heat and electricity)
to travel through it easily.

🟇 Conduction is the transfer of

heat between two objects
because they are touching each
other.

🟇 Examples:

🟇 Placing a pan on a burner

🟇 Touching a curling iron with your
hand
 Types of Conductors
🟇 Good conductors are objects that
energy (like heat) flows through
easily.

🟇 Metal is a great conductor,

that is why we use it for pans.

🟇 Poor conductors are objects that

energy does not travel well
through. We call these
insulators.

🟇 Wood, cloth, plastic and rubber

are insulators because they
do not allow energy to pass
through them easily. That is
why they are used for things
like pot holders and handles,
so that you do not burn
 Convection
🟇 Convection is the transfer
of heat through liquids and
gases as molecules circulate
in currents. Convection
represents the transfer of
heat by circulation or
movement of the hot
particles to cooler areas.
 Convection through
liquids.
Convection through liquids
(water)
* A pan full of water
heats up on a stove.
First the water on the
bottom heats up. The
hot water then is pushed
out of the way by the
cooler water on top
(because cool water
sinks) and this water
warms up. This will go on
until all of the water is
the same temperature.
If the water continues to
heat up it will evaporate.
This circulation of heat
is called convection.
 Convection through gases.
Convection through gas
(air)
* As the hot ground
warms the cool air
above it, the air starts
to rise. Warm air
always rises because it
is less dense. Cool air
always sinks because it
is more dense. As the
air warms up, cooler air
sinks and pushes the
warm air up and out of
the way. This
movement of heat
energy through the air
is called convection.
 Radiation
🟇 Radiation is the transfer of
energy by electromagnetic
waves.
🟇 Radiation can travel through
space (nothing).
🟇 The sun’s radiant energy
(radiation) travels through
space to Earth and warms
us up.
🟇 Examples
🟇 The sun warming your face.
🟇 Heat from a light bulb (without
touching it).
 Absorption
🟇 Absorption – Taking in or
swallowing up energy.
🟇 Examples
🟇 When you touch a hot object
your hand will absorb the
energy and your hand will
become warmer. (heat is
energy!
🟇 Solar panels absorb heat energy
from the sun and turn it into
usable power.
🟇 Earth absorbs the sun’s radiant
energy and that heat warms
Earth’s cooler air. That is how
Earth is warm enough to live on.
 Forms of radiant energy
🟇 Radiant energy is a
form of energy
transferred by radiation.
This energy can pass
through space and it
described as a spectrum.

🟇 The different forms of

radiant energy are:

🟇 Radio, TV, Microwave,

Infra Red, Visible Light,
Ultra Violet Light, X-Ray,
Gamma
🟇 A spectrum is a series
of energy bands. The
colors red, orange,
yellow, green, blue,
indigo, and violet,
arranged in order of their
wavelengths and seen
 Photons
🟇 Light travels in two ways:
through photons and
through waves.
🟇 Photons are tiny, invisible,
packets of light.
🟇 Photons have different
levels of energy. The
shorter the wavelength the
higher the energy.
🟇 Red light has the longest
wavelength and the least
amount of energy.
🟇 Light moves in waves
Waves
also.

🟇 Waves are measured by

their frequency, or how
closely they travel
together.

🟇 High frequency waves

travel closer together and
have a higher energy.

🟇 Low frequency waves

travel farther apart and
have a lower energy.

🟇 Wavelength is the
distance between the
peaks of two different
waves.
 Refraction
🟇 Normally light travels in a
straight path, but when it hits
an object of a different density
the light will bend this is
called refraction.

🟇 Refraction – When light

bends as it travels from one
medium to another.

🟇 A medium is any substance

through which a wave is
transmitted (sent through).

🟇 Light does not need a medium

in order to travel, it can travel
through space where there
are not air particles to carry it.
This is useful otherwise we
 Hey that’s me!
Reflection
🟇 Our ability to see depends
on the reflection of light.
🟇 Reflection is when rays of
light or heat are reflected,
or bounced off other
objects.
🟇 If light reflects off a smooth
surface (like a mirror) it will
bounce off at the same
angle. This is how we are
able to see our selves
perfectly through a flat
mirror.
 Hit Me!! sol.sci.uop.edu

🟇 Light hits objects at

certain angles.
🟇 Angle of incidence –
The angle at which light
strikes a surface.

🟇 Angle of reflection –
The angle at which light
bounces off a surface

Mathresources.com
 Color in light
🟇 Visible light is made up of
many different colors.
🟇 White light is the
combination of all colors.
🟇 Blackness is the absence of
all light.
🟇 We see colors when a
particular color is reflected
off the surface of an object.
The other colors are
absorbed.
🟇 Colored light can be
 Prisms
🟇 We can see the different colors
of light when white light enters a
prism and refracts (bends).

🟇 Remember a prism is a 3D
shape with two bases that are
the same shape.

🟇 The prism refracts the light and

separates the colors. Each color
of light bends slightly differently
than the others.

🟇 A rainbow occurs because

raindrops act as prisms. The
sunlight enters the raindrop and
is refracted, creating a rainbow.
 La luz
🟇 La luz: es una forma de
energía que se mueve por
las ondas y los fotones.
 La refracción
🟇 La refracción: una
desviación de las ondas
luminosas cuando pasan
por materiales diferentes.
🟇
Sound
Sound, like heat and light, is a form
of energy.

🟇 Sound is heard because it makes

air particles vibrate (rapid back
and forth movement).

🟇 Sound travels through air as sound

waves. Sound waves travel in all
directions from the source of the
wave.

🟇 Sound waves are different from

electromagnetic waves, because
sound waves need a medium to
pass through. If sound waves don’t
have something to pass through,
they don’t go anywhere.

🟇 Sound can also travel through

 Pitch
🟇 Pitch is how high or low a
sounds is.
🟇 Pitch depends on how
close together the waves
are in a sound wave or
high the frequency is.
🟇 The closer the waves are
the higher the pitch.
🟇 Waves with a lower
frequency, or waves that
are farther apart, have a
lower pitch.
 Loudness or Volume
🟇 The loudness of a sound is
called volume. How loud a
sound is depends upon how
many particles are moved by
the sound wave, or how high
the amplitude of a wave is.
🟇 If a sound wave moves a lot
of particles, the sound is
loud.
🟇 If a sound wave moves a
small amount of particles,
the sound is soft.
🟇 A sound wave with a loud
sound has a high amplitude
and visa versa.
 Decibels
🟇 The loudness of a
sound is measured in
decibels.
🟇 The higher the decibel
the louder the sound
is.
🟇 What object has the
loudest sound?
🟇
Sound
Sound waves don’t only
travels
travel through air (gas).
🟇 Sounds travels farther
through solids and liquids
because the particles in
solids and liquids are closer
together than they are in
gases.
 What happens to sound
waves?
🟇 The farther away you are
from a sound, the harder it
is to hear.
🟇 This is because as sound
travels it loses energy. It
will eventually run out of
energy and the sound can
no longer be heard.
🟇 Loud sounds have more
energy and it takes them
longer to lose their energy.