Question

Chemical energy in burning wood is changed into thermal energy. The thermal energy is absorbed by water, which boils to produce steam. The thermal energy is changed into kinetic energy in the moving steam. The kinetic energy is used to turn a turbine, which converts the kinetic energy into electricity. Which sentence best describes this system?

Answer 1

The answer to this question is that it involves both.

Answer 2

The answer is: It involves both energy transformation and energy transfer.

The law of conservation of energy states that the total energy of an isolated system remains constant; energy can neither be created nor destroyed; it can only be transformed or transferred from one form to another.

In this example energy is transformed:

1) from chemical energy to thermal energy.

2) from thermal energy to kinetic energy.

3) from kinetic energy to electric energy.