Led by Lord Kelvin Simulacrum
About this course
The concept of energy emerged in the nineteenth century. It was developed first to explain the work output of steam engines, then extended to chemical reactions and biological systems until it became the most unifying idea in physics. Today it also frames the central question of the twenty-first century: how a technological civilisation supplies itself with energy within the limits of a single planet.
This course follows AQA specification 8463, section 4.1, taught by six simulacra drawn from the century in which the concept was built. Lord Kelvin opens with the question of what a system is and how energy is stored within it. Helmholtz introduces the three elementary energy equations — conservation of energy as a unified principle is his 1847 memoir. Joule takes specific heat capacity — his paddle-wheel experiment in a Manchester brewery established that heat and mechanical work are interconvertible. Watt takes power — the unit bears his name. Carnot holds the pivotal fifth module on conservation, dissipation, and efficiency. Lovelock closes the course with the planetary-scale question of where energy comes from and what constraints shape its supply.
Foundation and Higher Tier content are both included. Higher Tier material is flagged inline. Required practicals one (specific heat capacity) and two (thermal insulation, physics-only) are treated within the modules that carry their content.
Led by Lord Kelvin Simulacrum
The question
What is a system, and what does it mean for the energy stored within it to change?
Outcome
The student can identify the energy stores before and after a change, name the transfer mechanism, and produce a before-and-after diagram for any of the five canonical situations. (AQA 4.1.1.1)
Led by Hermann von Helmholtz Simulacrum
The question
If energy is stored, how do we put a number on it?
Outcome
The student can apply the three equations correctly, reason about their units, and explain qualitatively why the squared forms appear in kinetic and elastic energy but not in gravitational potential. (AQA 4.1.1.2)
Led by James Prescott Joule Simulacrum
The question
Why does it take so much more energy to heat a kilogram of water than a kilogram of iron?
Outcome
The student can apply ΔE = mcΔθ, carry out Required Practical 1 and state its sources of uncertainty, and explain qualitatively why different substances have different specific heat capacities. (AQA 4.1.1.3)
Led by James Watt Simulacrum
The question
Two electric motors lift the same crate to the same shelf. One takes five seconds, the other takes ten. What has that difference actually measured?
Outcome
The student can apply both power equations, convert freely between watts and kilowatts, and reason about the power of a machine from examples of the energy it transfers in a given time. (AQA 4.1.1.4)
Led by Sadi Carnot Simulacrum
The question
If energy cannot be created or destroyed, why does everything run down?
Outcome
The student can state the conservation law, identify dissipation with concrete examples, calculate efficiency as a decimal or percentage using either equation, and (Higher Tier) describe strategies for improving efficiency.
Led by James Lovelock Simulacrum
The question
What powers the world today, and what constraints will shape the next fifty years?
Outcome
The student can name the main energy resources, distinguish renewable from non-renewable, compare them on use and reliability, describe their environmental impact, and articulate why energy choices are partly scientific and partly political. (AQA 4.1.3)