Mechanical energy

In physical sciences, mechanical energy is

the sum of potential energy and kinetic
energy. The principle of conservation of
mechanical energy states that if an
isolated system is subject only to
conservative forces, then the mechanical
energy is constant. If an object moves in
the opposite direction of a conservative
net force, the potential energy will
increase; and if the speed (not the
velocity) of the object changes, the kinetic
energy of the object also changes. In all
real systems, however, nonconservative
forces, such as frictional forces, will be
present, but if they are of negligible
magnitude, the mechanical energy
changes little and its conservation is a
useful approximation. In elastic collisions,
the kinetic energy is conserved, but in
inelastic collisions some mechanical
energy may be converted into thermal
energy. The equivalence between lost
mechanical energy and an increase in
temperature was discovered by James
Prescott Joule.
 An example of a mechanical system: A
satellite is orbiting the Earth influenced
only by the conservative gravitational force;
its mechanical energy is therefore
conserved. The satellite's acceleration is
represented by the green vector and its
velocity is represented by the red vector. If
the satellite's orbit is an ellipse the
potential energy of the satellite, and its
kinetic energy, both vary with time but their
sum remains constant.

Many devices are used to convert

mechanical energy to or from other forms
of energy, e.g. an electric motor converts
electrical energy to mechanical energy, an
electric generator converts mechanical
energy into electrical energy and a heat
engine converts heat to mechanical
energy.

General
Energy is a scalar quantity and the
mechanical energy of a system is the sum
of the potential energy (which is measured
by the position of the parts of the system)
and the kinetic energy (which is also called
the energy of motion):[1][2]

The potential energy, U, depends on the

position of an object subjected to gravity
or some other conservative force. The
gravitational potential energy of an object
is equal to the weight W of the object
multiplied by the height h of the object's
center of gravity relative to an arbitrary
datum:

The potential energy of an object can be

defined as the object's ability to do work
and is increased as the object is moved in
the opposite direction of the direction of
the force.[nb 1][1] If F represents the
conservative force and x the position, the
potential energy of the force between the
two positions x1 and x2 is defined as the
negative integral of F from x1 to x2:[4]
The kinetic energy, K, depends on the
speed of an object and is the ability of a
moving object to do work on other objects
when it collides with them.[nb 2][8] It is
defined as one half the product of the
object's mass with the square of its speed,
and the total kinetic energy of a system of
objects is the sum of the kinetic energies
of the respective objects:[1][9]

The principle of conservation of

mechanical energy states that if a body or
system is subjected only to conservative
forces, the mechanical energy of that body
or system remains constant.[10] The
difference between a conservative and a
non-conservative force is that when a
conservative force moves an object from
one point to another, the work done by the
conservative force is independent of the
path. On the contrary, when a non-
conservative force acts upon an object,
the work done by the non-conservative
force is dependent of the path.[11][12]
Conservation of mechanical
energy

CC
3:24

MIT professor Walter Lewin

demonstrating conservation of
mechanical energy

According to the principle of conservation

of mechanical energy, the mechanical
energy of an isolated system remains
constant in time, as long as the system is
free of friction and other non-conservative
forces. In any real situation, frictional
forces and other non-conservative forces
are present, but in many cases their
effects on the system are so small that the
principle of conservation of mechanical
energy can be used as a fair
approximation. Though energy cannot be
created or destroyed, it can be converted
to another form of energy.[1][13]

Swinging pendulum

A swinging pendulum with the

velocity vector (green) and
acceleration vector (blue). The
magnitude of the velocity vector,
the speed, of the pendulum is
greatest in the vertical position
and the pendulum is farthest from
Earth in its extreme positions.
In a mechanical system like a swinging
pendulum subjected to the conservative
gravitational force where frictional forces
like air drag and friction at the pivot are
negligible, energy passes back and forth
between kinetic and potential energy but
never leaves the system. The pendulum
reaches greatest kinetic energy and least
potential energy when in the vertical
position, because it will have the greatest
speed and be nearest the Earth at this
point. On the other hand, it will have its
least kinetic energy and greatest potential
energy at the extreme positions of its
swing, because it has zero speed and is
farthest from Earth at these points.
However, when taking the frictional forces
into account, the system loses mechanical
energy with each swing because of the
negative work done on the pendulum by
these non-conservative forces.[2]

Irreversibilities

That the loss of mechanical energy in a

system always resulted in an increase of
the system's temperature has been known
for a long time, but it was the amateur
physicist James Prescott Joule who first
experimentally demonstrated how a
certain amount of work done against
friction resulted in a definite quantity of
heat which should be conceived as the
random motions of the particles that
comprise matter.[14] This equivalence
between mechanical energy and heat is
especially important when considering
colliding objects. In an elastic collision,
mechanical energy is conserved – the sum
of the mechanical energies of the colliding
objects is the same before and after the
collision. After an inelastic collision,
however, the mechanical energy of the
system will have changed. Usually, the
mechanical energy before the collision is
greater than the mechanical energy after
the collision. In inelastic collisions, some
of the mechanical energy of the colliding
objects is transformed into kinetic energy
of the constituent particles. This increase
in kinetic energy of the constituent
particles is perceived as an increase in
temperature. The collision can be
described by saying some of the
mechanical energy of the colliding objects
has been converted into an equal amount
of heat. Thus, the total energy of the
system remains unchanged though the
mechanical energy of the system has
reduced.[1][15]
Satellite

plot of kinetic energy , gravitational

potential energy, and mechanical
energy versus distance
away from centre of earth, r at R= Re,
R= 2*Re, R=3*Re and lastly R =
geostationary radius

A satellite of mass at a distance from

the centre of Earth possesses both kinetic
energy, , (by virtue of its motion) and
gravitational potential energy, , (by virtue
of its position within the Earth's
gravitational field; Earth's mass is ).
Hence, mechanical energy of
the satellite-Earth system is given by
If the satellite is in circular orbit, the energy
conservation equation can be further
simplified into

since in circular motion, Newton's 2nd Law

of motion can be taken to be

Conversion
Today, many technological devices convert
mechanical energy into other forms of
energy or vice versa. These devices can be
placed in these categories:

An electric motor converts electrical

energy into mechanical energy.[16][17][18]
A generator converts mechanical energy
into electrical energy.[19]
A hydroelectric powerplant converts the
mechanical energy of water in a storage
dam into electrical energy.[20]
An internal combustion engine is a heat
engine that obtains mechanical energy
from chemical energy by burning fuel.
From this mechanical energy, the
 internal combustion engine often
generates electricity.[21]
A steam engine converts the heat
energy of steam into mechanical
energy.[22]
A turbine converts the kinetic energy of
a stream of gas or liquid into
mechanical energy.[23]

Distinction from other types

The classification of energy into different
types often follows the boundaries of the
fields of study in the natural sciences.

Chemical energy is the kind of potential

energy "stored" in chemical bonds and is
 studied in chemistry.[24]
Nuclear energy is energy stored in
interactions between the particles in the
atomic nucleus and is studied in nuclear
physics.[25]
Electromagnetic energy is in the form of
electric charges, magnetic fields, and
photons. It is studied in
electromagnetism.[26][27]
Various forms of energy in quantum
mechanics; e.g., the energy levels of
electrons in an atom.[28][29]

References
Notes
 1. It is important to note that when measuring
mechanical energy, an object is considered
as a whole, as it is stated by Isaac Newton
in his Principia: "The motion of a whole is
the same as the sum of the motions of the
parts; that is, the change in position of its
parts from their places, and thus the place
of a whole is the same as the sum of the
places of the parts and therefore is internal
and in the whole body."[3]
2. In physics, speed is a scalar quantity and
velocity is a vector. Velocity is speed with a
direction and can therefore change without
changing the speed of the object since
speed is the numerical magnitude of a
velocity.[5][6][7]

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