GCSE · Physics · AQA · Spec 8463
Energy stores and systems
When a car stops or water warms, energy has not vanished — the detective work is finding the new stores and the transfer pathway.
Energy stores in motion
Moving: energy is in the kinetic store.
Follow one system upwards. Watch the store change — not the total energy vanish.
Relationship matrix
Tap any cell to reveal it. Tap a column header to read one property down every item.
Each cell hides a short answer and the reason behind it. Predict before you tap.
Predict, then check
A slowing vehicle exposes whether the conservation idea has stuck.
A vehicle slows down. Which statement is the best description?
Compare changes on the same joule scale
Problem
Three systems change. Calculate each energy-store change and compare the sizes.
WHAT YOU'VE LEARNED
A quick recap of today's lesson.
What you need to know
- Start by defining the system boundary.
- Describe a change using energy stores, not vague forms or types of energy.
- The three pathways here are heating, mechanical work and electrical work.
- Use joules to compare store changes and account for energy transferred to the surroundings.
The big picture
A system is an object or group of objects chosen for study. When that system changes, describe energy redistribution by naming the stores that decrease and increase and by identifying the transfer pathway: heating, work done by forces or work done when an electric current flows. Compare all changes in joules. Energy may be dissipated to stores in the surroundings, but it is not created, used up or lost.
Key points
Worked example
Problem
A motor transfers 500 J electrically. A lifted load's gravitational store increases by 360 J. Account for the system's energy change.
⚠ Watch out
Calling heat, light, sound or electricity energy stores. In this model, a store is where energy is accounted for; heating and work are ways energy is transferred.
★ Exam tip
In AQA questions, write 'energy is transferred' and name the stores that decrease and increase. Avoid 'heat energy is stored' or 'energy is lost'; heating is a pathway and dissipated energy increases stores in the surroundings.
Memory hook
Use three S-words: System, Shift, Surroundings. Draw the system, track which stores shift, then account for any transfer to the surroundings.
Check yourself
A cyclist brakes. Give a complete energy description without using the words 'lost' or 'used up'.
Flashcards
(14)What is a system?
How are changes to a system described?
What three pathways can change a system in this lesson?
What store changes occur as an object projected upwards rises?
What store changes occur when a moving object hits an obstacle?
What happens when a constant force accelerates an object?
What store changes occur when a vehicle slows?
What store increases when water is heated?
Is heating an energy store?
Is electrical work an energy store?
Why compare energy changes in joules?
A system receives 600 J and its intended store increases by 450 J. How much is dissipated?
What does dissipated energy do?
Complete the description frame: system → ___ → stores.
Tap any card to flip it, or use Study as deck to go through them one at a time. In the full lesson these run as a spaced-repetition deck — you rate each card Hard, Good or Easy and the tricky ones keep coming back until they stick.
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