Sankey diagrams show that the total energy transferred into a system is equal to the useful energy transferred plus the energy dissipated or 'wasted'. This confirms that energy is conserved.

For example, a grazing cow, a firing catapult and a boiling kettle are all doing 'work', as energy is being transferred. Diagrams can be used to show how energy is transferred from one store to ...

Each food chain is a descriptive diagram including a series of arrows ... Food webs can be used to reveal different patterns of energy transfer in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.