Which is the right answer and how?
a) thermal energy –> elastic potential energy –> electrical energy
b) nuclear energy –> potential energy –> chemical energy
c) electrical energy –> thermal energy –> kinetic energy
d) radiant energy –> electrical energy –> chemical potential energy
d
This should have gone into the Homework category.
The correct answer is (d).
The radiation from the Sun (actually the photons of the light) excites the electrons in the material of the solar cell coating. Thus radiant energy –> electrical energy.
The electrons flow through the anode and cathode of the chemical battery, making chemical reaction happen. This chemical reaction absorbs some of the energy, most of which will be available in future. Thus electrical energy –> chemical potential energy
1) Energy from the sun comes (mostly) from electromagnetic radiation (light); hence the energy starts as radiant energy.
2) A solar cell transforms the light energy into electrical energy (light is absorbed by electrons, freeing them from their atoms and creating an electrical current).
3) Batteries store energy chemically–when you charge a battery, you use an electric current to force ions and anions to move in the chemical equivalent of rolling a stone uphill.
So answer D is correct.
See references.