Kinetic and Potential Energy Stores

• Kinetic energy


  Energy in an object's kinetic energy store
• Kinetic energy


  • Anything that is moving has energy in its kinetic energy store
  • Energy is transferred to this store when an object speeds up and is transferred away from this store when an object slows down
  • The energy in the kinetic energy store depends on the object's mass and speed
• Calculating kinetic energy


  Kinetic energy = 1/2 mv²
• Gravitational potential energy


  Energy stored in an object due to its position in a gravitational field
• Gravitational potential energy


  • Lifting an object in a gravitational field requires work, which causes a transfer of energy to the gravitational potential energy store
  • The amount of energy in a gravitational potential energy store depends on the object's mass, its height and the strength of the gravitational field
• Calculating gravitational potential energy


  Gravitational potential energy = mgh
• Elastic potential energy


  Energy stored in an object due to its deformation
• Calculating elastic potential energy

  Elastic potential energy = 1/2 ke²
• Elastic potential energy


  • Stretching or squashing an object can transfer energy to its elastic potential energy store
  • Energy in the elastic potential energy store of a stretched spring can be found using the spring constant and the extension