Class:___________________ Name:_________________________

6/7th Grade Science Study Guide: Energy

1. Potential and Kinetic Energy

A. Connect the term with the definition.

Potential Energy Total energy a system starts with

Kinetic Energy Stored energy

Mechanical Energy Energy of motion

B. The basketball and tennis ball in this diagram are being

held up in the air by a person. What kind of energy do
they have right now?

C. Draw the energy transfers of this system when the person

drops the ball. (hint: what kind of energy does the
basketball start with?)

_________________________  ____________

2. Law of Conservation of Energy

A. What is the law of conservation of energy?

Energy cannot be _____________ or ________________. All forms of energy can be

________________ into other forms of energy.

B. Using the law of conservation of energy, why doesn’t

the bowling ball in this diagram (or baseball) come back
and hit the man in the face?

C. What happens to the kinetic energy of a tennis ball if it is rolled when you increase the
height of a ramp.

D. What happens to the potential energy of the tennis ball when you increase the mass of
ball.
3. Temperature
a. Temperature is the average _________________ energy of particles in an object.
b. Describe the speed of particles in each of these objects. (slow, medium, fast)

Books at room temperature: Food cooking on a stove: Water in the freezer:

c. The kinetic energy of molecules in an object will ____________ when you increase
the temperature.
d. The kinetic energy of molecules in an object will ____________ when you decrease
the temperature.

4. Thermal Energy Transfers

a. Thermal energy will only transfer from __________ objects to _________ objects.
b. Which ice cube takes more thermal energy to melt? A large or small one? Explain why.

c. What happens to the molecules in a liquid when it heats up?

d. Describe how a thermometer is able to measure temperature. (hint: what happens to

the molecules of the red liquid?)