Transfers and transformations at Higher Level: The same two kinds of flow. At HL, follow energy through a whole system, naming each change of form, and apply it to societies too.
Practise this as you read
- Name the energy form before and after each change.
- Explain why energy leaves as heat.
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Two kinds of flow: Every flow is a transfer or a transformation.
Transfer
- It only changes location.
- Coal carried to a power station; electricity along cables.
- Heat carried by wind and ocean currents.
Transformation
- It changes chemical nature, state or energy.
- Coal burned; heat turning a turbine.
Chemical nature
- Burning coal makes carbon dioxide.
State
- Water boiled into steam.
Energy
- Chemical to heat, heat to movement, movement to electricity.
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The water cycle is the favourite test. Learn which flow is which:
| Process | Transfer or transformation | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation | Transfer | Water falls from clouds to the ground |
| Runoff, infiltration, percolation | Transfer | Water moves over or into the ground |
| Groundwater flow, plant uptake | Transfer | Water moves to a new place |
| Evaporation, transpiration | Transformation | Liquid water becomes vapour |
| Condensation | Transformation | Vapour becomes liquid |
| Snowmelt | Transformation | Solid ice becomes liquid |
| Advection | Transfer | Wind moves water vapour |
| Sublimation | Transformation | Ice becomes vapour directly |
Read the figure: Name a process that is shown in the figure. Only your first answer for each is marked.
In an ecosystem, matter cycles but energy flows through and leaves as heat.
Matter
- Transferred: minerals into roots, food eaten.
- Transformed: photosynthesis, respiration, decomposition.
- Used again and again.
Energy
- Transformed: light to chemical in photosynthesis.
- Transferred: chemical energy passed on by feeding.
- Transformed to heat by respiration, and lost.
Why energy runs down: At every trophic level, respiration turns chemical energy into heat that leaves the system. Energy is not recycled.
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How this comes up: "Using a system diagram, explain the transfer and transformation of energy" [7]: draw it, then explain it.
Using a system diagram, explain the transfer and transformation of energy as it flows through a forest ecosystem.
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