Physics, environment and society
Where does our energy come from, and how does using it affect the environment?
8 lessons
Lessons
Energy and power
Chapter 1Forms of energy and conservation of energyWhy does a bouncing ball eventually come to rest on the floor?
- Chapter 2Energy transformations and the joule
Why does the motion of a bicycle ultimately come from the Sun, and how can the amount of energy be given as a single number?
- Chapter 3Power: $P = \Delta E/\Delta t$
Why can you not work out an electricity bill from the power of a device alone?
- Chapter 4Efficiency
Why does an incandescent lamp get so hot that it can burn your finger, even though its job is to give light, and why does an LED lamp shine just as brightly with much less electricity?
Energy production and the environment
Chapter 5Fuels and heat of combustion $E = Hm$Why do a kilogram of petrol and a kilogram of air-dried firewood release different amounts of energy when they burn, even though both are just burning matter?
- Chapter 6Ways of producing energy and how they compare
Why do nuclear power, hydropower, wind power and fuel-fired power plants all run in the Finnish electricity grid at the same time, even though one type of plant could in principle produce all the electricity?
- Chapter 7Transferring energy: electricity and heat
Why is the voltage in power lines hundreds of kilovolts when a wall socket gives only $230\,\text{V}$, and why are district heating pipes wrapped in thick insulation?
- Chapter 8Energy production, the environment and climate change
Why does the way we produce electricity decide how much carbon dioxide ends up in the atmosphere, even though the electricity from a socket at home is always the same?
Apply independently
At the end of the module you can try whether you can apply what you have learned independently, in the style of the matriculation examination. The model answers and marking guides open after your own solution.
- Apply independently 1 task · 18 points
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Module goals
Show all 4 goals
The student
- becomes familiar with energy as a central concept of physics
- knows different forms of energy and ways of producing energy
- can compare the orders of magnitude of different ways of producing energy and their environmental effects
- gains the skills to take part in discussion and decision-making about the environment and technology from the point of view of a sustainable energy economy