Which description illustrates an energy transformation from electrical energy to thermal energy?

• A. A candle glows as it burns.
• B. A wave crashes against the shore.
• C. A bolt of lightning strikes a tree.
• D. A flashlight uses a battery to operate

Answer: (C)

Energy transformations involve changing one form of energy into another. When electrical energy becomes thermal energy, heat is produced as the electricity dissipates in the material.

A bolt of lightning striking a tree shows this clearly: the electrical energy of the lightning is converted into light and, primarily, a large amount of thermal energy, rapidly heating the tree and often causing it to burn.

The other scenarios don’t demonstrate electrical energy turning into heat in the same way. A candle’s glow comes from chemical energy in the wax, not electrical energy. A wave crashing is about mechanical energy in motion, not electrical-to-thermal. A flashlight uses a battery to operate by converting chemical energy to electrical energy and then to light (with some heat), but the observable outcome highlighted is illumination, not heat.