AQA GCSE Physics Foundation (8463), Foundation tier · Energy › Conservation and dissipation of energy
Practise Energy transfers in a system. 10 exam-style questions on this subtopic, at up to four difficulty levels, with full mark schemes and a progress tracker. Free, no account needed.
Energy can be transferred usefully, stored or dissipated, but never created or destroyed. You need to explain where energy is wasted, how to reduce unwanted energy transfers (lubrication and insulation), and how the thickness and thermal conductivity of its walls affect how fast a building cools. GCSE Physics students also need the required practical on thermal insulators. Expect 2 to 4 mark 'describe' and 'explain' questions, and practical questions of up to 6 marks.
Key facts
Conservation of energy: energy can be transferred usefully, stored or dissipated, but cannot be created or destroyed
Closed system: no net change to the total energy
Dissipated (wasted) energy usually ends up in the thermal store of the surroundings
Lubrication → less friction → less energy dissipated
Thermal insulation → lower rate of energy transfer by heating
Higher thermal conductivity → higher rate of energy transfer by conduction
Thicker walls + lower thermal conductivity → building cools more slowly
Insulation practical: best insulator = smallest temperature drop in the same time
Notes
Conservation of energy
Energy can be transferred usefully, stored or dissipated, but it cannot be created or destroyed.
In a closed system no energy enters or leaves, so there is no net change to the total energy. Energy just moves between stores.
Example: a swinging pendulum with no air resistance. Energy moves back and forth between its kinetic and gravitational potential stores, but the total stays the same.
Dissipation (wasted energy)
In all system changes some energy is dissipated: it spreads out and ends up stored in less useful ways, usually in the thermal store of the surroundings. This is often called 'wasted' energy.
Examples: friction heats the moving parts of a machine; air resistance heats the air around a moving car; a lamp heats the room as well as lighting it; a motor makes sound.
Once it has spread out, dissipated energy is very hard to use again.
Reducing unwanted energy transfers
Lubrication: oil or grease between moving parts reduces friction, so less work is done against friction and less energy is dissipated by heating.
Thermal insulation reduces the rate of energy transfer by heating, e.g. loft insulation, cavity wall insulation and double glazing in a house.
Thermal conductivity and buildings
diagram
The higher the thermal conductivity of a material, the higher the rate of energy transfer by conduction across it.
Metals have a high thermal conductivity. Materials that trap air, such as foam, wool and fibreglass, have a low thermal conductivity, so they are good insulators.
A building cools more slowly if its walls are thicker and made of a material with a lower thermal conductivity.
Thicker walls with a lower thermal conductivity reduce the rate of energy transfer.
Put the same volume of hot water, at the same starting temperature, into identical beakers.
Wrap each beaker in a different material of the same thickness, and put a lid on each.
Each beaker is wrapped in a different material; the one that cools least is the best insulator.
Measure the temperature of the water with a thermometer at the start and again after a fixed time, e.g. 10 minutes.
The best insulator is the one where the water cools the least in the same time.
To test thickness, use different numbers of layers of the same material.
How to answer each type of question
Describe how energy is wasted
2 to 3 marksGrade 4
Identify the useful energy transfer first, e.g. to the kinetic store of the fan blades.
Name the cause of the waste: friction, air resistance, the current heating wires, or sound.
Say where the energy ends up: the thermal store of the surroundings.
Example. An electric fan is designed to transfer energy to the kinetic store of its blades. Describe how some of the energy supplied to the fan is wasted.
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Friction in the motor and bearings heats them (1), so energy is dissipated to the thermal store of the surroundings (1). Some energy is transferred to the surroundings as sound (1).
Explain how a change reduces wasted energy
2 marksGrade 5
Say what the change does: reduces friction, or reduces the rate of energy transfer by heating.
Say the result: less energy is dissipated to the surroundings.
Example. A cyclist puts oil on the chain of her bicycle. Explain how this reduces the energy wasted as she cycles.
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The oil lubricates the chain, reducing the friction between the chain and the gears (1). So less work is done against friction, and less energy is dissipated to the thermal store of the chain and the surroundings (1).
Don’t lose marks
Saying energy is 'lost' or 'used up' without saying that it is dissipated to the surroundings.
Saying insulation 'stops' energy transfer. It reduces the rate of energy transfer.
Writing 'insulation keeps the cold out'. Energy is transferred from the warm inside to the cold outside.
Confusing thermal conductivity (how fast energy passes through a material) with specific heat capacity (the energy needed to warm it up).
In the practical, not keeping the volume, starting temperature and thickness the same.
More tips
Memory tricks
Energy never disappears: if it is not useful, it has usually gone to the thermal store of the surroundings.
Low thermal conductivity = good insulator.
'Thick and low': thicker walls and a lower thermal conductivity both slow down cooling.
Most good insulators trap air, which has a very low thermal conductivity.
Exam technique
Use the key words: dissipated, wasted, thermal store of the surroundings, rate of energy transfer.
When comparing materials or walls, use comparative words (higher, lower, thicker, faster) and say which is better.
In a closed-system question, say that the total energy stays the same even though energy moves between stores.
What each grade needs
What you need to be able to do, from the first marks up to the top grade.
Grade 3
State the law of conservation of energyEnergy can be transferred usefully, stored or dissipated, but cannot be created or destroyed.
Grade 4
Give examples of energy being dissipatedFriction heats moving parts, air resistance heats the air, and a motor makes sound.
Grade 5
Explain how lubrication reduces wasted energyOil reduces friction between moving parts, so less energy is dissipated by heating.
Grade 5
Explain how insulation reduces energy transferThermal insulation lowers the rate of energy transfer by heating, e.g. loft insulation in a house.
Cover the answers and test yourself. The app has these as flashcards that come back just before you'd forget them.
Complete the sentence. The higher the thermal conductivity of a material, the .................... the rate of energy transfer by conduction through the material.
higher
A student thinks that a thicker layer of bubble wrap around a beaker of hot water will reduce the rate of cooling more than a thinner layer. Write a hypothesis for an investigation into this idea.
The thicker the layer of bubble wrap, the lower the rate of cooling.
Sample questions
Written for this site in the style of AQA exam questions. They are not taken from real past papers.
Question 1Easy4 marks
Energy is transferred when a cyclist rides a bicycle.
(a) Which statement about energy is correct? Tick (✓) one box.[1]
Energy can be created but not destroyed.
Energy can be destroyed but not created.
Energy cannot be created or destroyed.
Energy is used up when it is transferred.
(b) The cyclist oils the bicycle chain regularly. Explain how oiling the chain reduces unwanted energy transfers.[2]
(c) What happens to the energy that is wasted? Tick (✓) one box.[1]
It is destroyed.
It is dissipated to the surroundings.
It is stored in the chemical store of the cyclist.
It is transferred back to the kinetic store of the bicycle.
Show the answer and mark scheme
(a)Answer: Energy cannot be created or destroyed.
(b)Answer: Oil (lubrication) reduces friction between the moving parts, so less energy is dissipated to the thermal store of the chain and surroundings.
(lubrication) reduces friction (between the moving parts)
so less energy is dissipated / wasted / transferred to the thermal store (of the chain or surroundings)
(c)Answer: It is dissipated to the surroundings.
Question 2Medium5 marks
A student thinks that a thicker layer of bubble wrap around a beaker of hot water will reduce the rate of cooling more than a thinner layer.
(a) Write a hypothesis for an investigation into this idea.[1]
(b) State the independent variable and the dependent variable in this investigation.[2]
(c) State two variables the student should control.[2]
Show the answer and mark scheme
(a)Answer: The thicker the layer of bubble wrap, the lower the rate of cooling.
the thicker the (bubble wrap) insulation, the lower the rate of cooling / the smaller the temperature decrease in a given time
(b)Answer: Independent: thickness (number of layers) of bubble wrap. Dependent: rate of cooling (temperature decrease in a fixed time).
independent variable: thickness / number of layers of bubble wrap
dependent variable: rate of cooling / temperature decrease in a fixed time
(c)Answer: Any two from: volume of water; starting temperature; type/size of beaker; room temperature.