Title: Kinetic and Potential Energy in a Closed System
When we talk about energy in physics, two important types come up: kinetic energy and potential energy. Understanding how these two types relate to each other is key to grasping the idea of mechanical energy and how energy is conserved in a closed system.
Kinetic energy (KE) is the energy of motion. If something is moving, it has kinetic energy.
We can calculate kinetic energy using this formula:
In this formula, (m) is the mass of the object, and (v) is how fast it's moving.
For example, think about a car driving down the road. The faster the car goes, the more kinetic energy it has.
Potential energy (PE) is the stored energy that an object has based on where it is or how it is arranged. The most common type is gravitational potential energy. We can calculate it with this formula:
Here, (m) is mass, (g) is the acceleration due to gravity (which is about (9.8 , m/s^2) on Earth), and (h) is how high the object is above a certain point.
For example, think of a rock sitting at the edge of a cliff. It has gravitational potential energy because it is up high.
In a closed system—where no energy is lost—the total amount of mechanical energy (which is the sum of kinetic and potential energies) stays the same. This idea can be shown with the equation:
Here, (i) means the initial state, and (f) means the final state.
Let’s look at a simple pendulum as an example. When the pendulum is at the highest point of its swing, it has the most potential energy and no kinetic energy (since it stops for a moment before changing direction).
As it swings down, potential energy turns into kinetic energy. At the lowest point of the swing, kinetic energy is at its highest, while potential energy is at its lowest. Then, as the pendulum swings back up, kinetic energy changes back into potential energy.
This back-and-forth between kinetic and potential energy shows us how energy changes form but isn’t lost in a closed system. It’s one of the basic ideas in physics!
Title: Kinetic and Potential Energy in a Closed System
When we talk about energy in physics, two important types come up: kinetic energy and potential energy. Understanding how these two types relate to each other is key to grasping the idea of mechanical energy and how energy is conserved in a closed system.
Kinetic energy (KE) is the energy of motion. If something is moving, it has kinetic energy.
We can calculate kinetic energy using this formula:
In this formula, (m) is the mass of the object, and (v) is how fast it's moving.
For example, think about a car driving down the road. The faster the car goes, the more kinetic energy it has.
Potential energy (PE) is the stored energy that an object has based on where it is or how it is arranged. The most common type is gravitational potential energy. We can calculate it with this formula:
Here, (m) is mass, (g) is the acceleration due to gravity (which is about (9.8 , m/s^2) on Earth), and (h) is how high the object is above a certain point.
For example, think of a rock sitting at the edge of a cliff. It has gravitational potential energy because it is up high.
In a closed system—where no energy is lost—the total amount of mechanical energy (which is the sum of kinetic and potential energies) stays the same. This idea can be shown with the equation:
Here, (i) means the initial state, and (f) means the final state.
Let’s look at a simple pendulum as an example. When the pendulum is at the highest point of its swing, it has the most potential energy and no kinetic energy (since it stops for a moment before changing direction).
As it swings down, potential energy turns into kinetic energy. At the lowest point of the swing, kinetic energy is at its highest, while potential energy is at its lowest. Then, as the pendulum swings back up, kinetic energy changes back into potential energy.
This back-and-forth between kinetic and potential energy shows us how energy changes form but isn’t lost in a closed system. It’s one of the basic ideas in physics!