8. Lesson 8: Energy

It Just Keeps Going and Going

"...wherever mechanical force is expended, an exact equivalent of heat is always obtained." James Prescott Joule, August (1843)

The University of Manchester in that original industrial city has been the home of to-be illustrious physicists as well as already-in-the-textbooks physicists for more than 150 years. Ironically, the Manchester scientist credited with one of the most fundamental statements about the word had nothing to do with the university. He made beer. James Prescott Joule was the son of a brewer who joined the management of the family business in his early 20’s where he launched intensive research into how to increase the efficiency of, or replace its large-scale steam engines. This led to a lifetime of largely private research into the nature of energy.

Note

Goals of this lesson: Understanding, appreciation, familiarity

I’d like you to Understand:

• How to calculate kinetic energies of moving objects.

• How to calculate potential energies of objects.

• How to use the conservation of energy to calculate speeds. parameters

I’d like you to Appreciate:

• The importance of the conservation of momentum and energy.

I’d like you to become Familiar With:

• The novelty of James Joule’s experiments and interpretation.

• The fundamental importance of Emmy Noether’s work.