Energy can be transferred, or moved, from one object to another.

When you ride a bicycle, you transfer mechanical energy from your legs to the pedals. The pedals transfer the energy to the bicycle gears, which transfer the energy to the tires. The rolling tires move the bike along the street.

When a cat sits on a sunny windowsill, radiant energy from the sun is transferred through the window to the cat’s fur. The radiant energy heats up the fur and the cat’s body.

Energy can be transformed, or changed, from one form to another.

Suppose you eat a hamburger for lunch. Later that afternoon, you run in a race. Your body, through the digestive process, changes the chemical energy in the hamburger to the mechanical energy of your arms and legs so you can run.

A toaster changes electrical energy to heat. Electricity flows into the toaster’s heating elements, which are made of wires. The flow of electricity heats the wires. Heat from the wire is transferred to the slice of bread. Up pops your toast!

A car changes the chemical energy of gasoline to the mechanical energy of wheels turning. Inside a car’s engine, gasoline is burned in small bursts. Each burst of energy creates motion in the engine’s crankshaft and other moving parts. This motion is transferred to the wheels of the car, making them turn.