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Island Physics

9E - ENERGY RESOURCES

Home >> Year 9 >> Energy and Electricity
Forces and Motion >>
This unit takes a look at the Energy Resources and Generating Electricity within the context of cost, the environment, renewable and non-renewable fuels.  The emphasis is of course on a sustainable lifestyle – we try to include as much as possible to the situation here in Bermuda. 

Student booklet - November 2020

Voltage and Circuits

  • List the components in a circuit
  • Use a model to explain how changing the voltage affects the current in a circuit

Energy Transfer

  • Describe ways in which energy is stored and transferd
  • Know that energy resources are required for everyday life
  • Draw a Sankey Diagram
  • Explain what efficiency means
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Generating Electricity

  • Describe how electricity is generated.
  • Consider the advantages and disadvantages of different ways of generating electricity.
  • Explain why efficiency is important
There are four ways to produce electricity:
  • Friction - which produces static electricity.  Not terribly useful for most applications
  • Batteries - which store chemical energy that can be converted to electricity.  Portable but heavy and expensive.  Battery technology is a massive growth area at the moment with the boom in cell phones, laptops and electric vehicles.
  • Solar Cells - another growth area, sunlight is converted into electrical energy.  Low power.
  • Generators - the major provider.  Large machines that convert rotational kinetic energy into electricity.
The vast majority of large scale, high power electricity is produced by rotating a generator.  This uses the 'magic' of electromagnetic induction.  If a magnet is moved in a coil of wire, electricity is produced (induced).  The amount of electricity depends on:
  • speed of the magnet
  • strength of the magnet
  • number of coils of wire
The direction of motion and the polarity of the magnet affects the direction that the electricity flows.  It does not have to be the magnet that moves, it could be the coil moves around the magnet.  On a practical level the simplest way to continuously move a magnet inside a coil of wire is to SPIN it.

The problem is that nature refuses to allow you to get something for nothing, so it requires EFFORT to generate electricity.  The more electricity you want to produce, the harder it is to do so.  So, generators need something to spin them.  In Bermuda, this mean large diesel engines at BELCO.
This a very cool experiment to try at home.  In effect it a miniature version of Volta's first practical working battery, which he named a 'Voltaic Pile'.   Took him ages to make large ones, then quickly ran out of 'juice'...

You could also try to make one using a piece of copper, aluminium foil and a lemon.
Picture
How electricity is generated in big countries (bigger than Bermuda...!).  A fuel is burned to boil water.  The high pressure steam then turns a turbine (lots of propellers) that in turn spins a generator. 

In Bermuda, this is only done at the trash incinerator at Tyne's Bay, which generates about 1.5% of the island's electricity.

BELCO skips the water stage and just has 23 huge diesel engines that directly spin the generators.
ACTIVITY - run the Java simulation and explore how moving and spinning a magnet produces electricity.
The useful tabs are: 'Pickup Coil' and 'Generator'.
Generating Electricity Powerpoint
Faraday's Electromagnetic Lab
Click to Run
​Better Energy Plan for Bermuda - 31 Oct 2018
This was one of the proposals put forward for the future generation of electricity in Bermuda.  However, BELCO's plan to continue with newer fossil fuel powered generators won out.  Tradition over innovation....

Bermuda Proposals - 31 Oct 2018
Electric Buses - Royal Gazette 15 Nov 2018
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Fossil Fuels

  • Know that energy resources are required for everyday life
  • Understand the formation and extraction of fossil fuels
  • Know that fossil fuels are non-renewable and polluting, leading to acid rain and global warming

Energy and Power

  • Explain what the power rating of an appliance shows
  • Explain how we can reduce our energy bills
  • Explain how this can help the environment

Using Less Energy (save money!)

  • Understand that we can reduce the impact of global warming by using less energy
  • Understand that we can save money by using less energy
  • Know a variety of methods of reducing energy consumption
Picture

Alternative Energy Resources

  • Recall a variety of alternative energy resources
  • Explain the difference between non-renewable and renewable energy resources
  • Explain some of the advantages and disadvantages of various energy resources

Other Resources

Current Vehicle Rental (Twizy) - Bermuda's NEW rental cars!
Picture
Our nearest neighbour is the USA.  Fossil fuels dominate the energy sources, although there has been a recent increase in the usage of renewables.  This was partly due to economics, improved technology and encouragement from the Obama administration.
  • HOME
  • YEAR 9
    • Assessment System
    • Inheritance
    • Plants >
      • Kitchen Garden Project
    • Acids and Alkalis
    • Energetic Reactions
    • Energy Resources
    • Mechanics
    • Environmental Science
  • IGCSE
    • Forces and Motion
    • Energy and Energy Resources
    • Solids, Liquids and Gases
    • Waves
    • Astrophysics
    • Electricity
    • Magnetism
    • Nuclear Physics
    • IGCSE revision
  • Physics I
    • Kinematics >
      • Variables and Units
      • Describing Motion
      • Equations of Motion
      • Problem Solving
      • Projectiles
      • Kinematics Animations
    • Dynamics >
      • Forces
      • Static Equilibrium
      • Newton's Laws
      • Friction
      • Advanced Problems
    • Gravitation and Orbits >
      • Circular Motion
      • Vertical Circles
      • Universal Gravitation
      • Orbits
      • Circular Motion Animation
    • Energy >
      • Work
      • Springs
      • PE and KE
      • Conservation of Energy
      • Work-Energy Theorem
    • Linear Momentum >
      • Impulse
      • Conservation of Momentum
      • Types of Collision
      • 2-D Collisions
    • Simple Harmonic Motion >
      • Mass on Spring
      • Pendulums
      • SHM Animations
    • Rotational Mechanics >
      • Torque
      • Rotational Kinematics
      • Rotational Dynamics
      • Angular Momentum
      • Rotational Energy
    • Mechanical Waves >
      • Waves on a String
      • Sound
    • AP-1 Revision
    • AP Physics C (Mechanics)
  • Physics II
    • Fluid Mechanics
    • Thermal Physics
    • Electrostatics
    • Magnetic Fields >
      • EM Induction
    • Interference and Diffraction
    • Optics
    • Modern Physics
    • AP 2 Revision
  • OCEANOGRAPHY
    • The World Ocean >
      • What is Oceanography
      • History
      • Lat and Long
      • Size and Origin
      • Plate Tectonics
    • Seawater >
      • A Salty Sea
      • Measuring Salinity
      • Thermal Properties
      • Density Profiles
      • Drinking Seawater
    • Circulation and Climate >
      • Global Heating
      • Coriolis Effect
      • Surface Currents
      • Vertical Motion
      • Thermohaline Circulation
      • El Nino
      • Carbon Cycle
    • Waves and Tides >
      • Wave Motion
      • Formation of Waves
      • Beaches
      • Tsunamis
      • Tides
    • Observation Systems >
      • Challenges
      • The CTD
      • Moorings
      • Sound Waves
      • Robotics
      • Satellites
    • Weather and Navigation >
      • Weather Systems
      • Weather Forecasting
      • Hurricanes
      • Navigation
      • Life at Sea
    • Oceans and Mankind >
      • Ocean Acidification
      • Pollution
      • Fish Stocks
      • Climate Change
      • Energy Resources
    • Atlantic Explorer Cruise
    • ROVs
  • COLLEGE
    • College Physics I
    • College Physics II
  • CONTACT