ENERGY CHANGES: Changing Forms of Energy

You wake up. It's a cool, sunny day, You think you'll go for a bike ride. But first you eat a good healthy breakfast. You are taking the chemical energy stored in food into your own body. Any time energy is stored, it's called potential energy. It's available for later use. Without your needing to think about it, the cells in your body will break down the chemical bonds in the food and release the energy in those bonds. You'll use the energy to stay warm, to grow, to keep your internal organs working, and to move your muscles.

And you are moving. You jump up from the table, grab a jacket, head out the door. You hop on your bicycle.

The energy of motion is called kinetic energy. As you pump your legs, the bicycle starts to roll. Your kinetic energy is being transferred to the bicycle.

NEXT: More Forms of Energy