Kinetic energy is energy associated with the state of motion of an object.

The faster the object

moves, the greater is its kinetic energy. When the object is stationary, its kinetic energy is zero.

For an object of mass ‘m’ whose speed ‘v’ is well below the speed of light, we have:

1 2
E k = m v (J)
2
The kinetic energy variation is equal to frictional work

∆ E k = A F =−Fs (J)

02.

What is “potential energy”?

A conservative force is a force which the net work it does on a particle moving between two points
doesn’t depend on the path taken by the particle.

Potential energy is energy that is associated with the configuration of a system where a conservative
force acts.

In this presentation, we consider only two types of potential energy: gravitational potential energy
and elastic potential energy.

Gravitational potential energy is the potential energy associated with a system consisting of Earth
and a nearby particle. If the reference point of the particle is set as y i = 0, the gravitational potential
energy when the particle is at any height y is:

E gp = mgy (J)

Elastic potential energy is the energy associated with the state of compression or extension of an
elastic object. For a spring that exerts a spring force F = −kx when its free end has displacement x,
the elastic potential energy is:

1 2
Eep = k x (J)
2
03.

Conservation of mechanical energy

The mechanical energy of a particle system is equal to the sum of the kinetic energy and potential
energy of the system.

The conservation of mechanical energy: In an isolated system where only conservative forces cause
energy changes, the kinetic energy and potential energy can change, but their sum, the mechanical
energy of the system, cannot change.

Em = E k1 + E p 1 = E k2 + E p 2 = ..... = E kn + E pn

Attention: The conservation of mechanical energy is only true when the system that we consider is
the isolated system, in which the acting force is only the conservative force.

04.

Application and example

1
A dart gun is an example of mechanical energy observed in everyday life. A dart gun works on the
principle of elastic potential energy. The spring used in the dart guns consists of stored elastic
potential energy. When a dart gun is loaded, it causes the spring to compress. At that moment, the
dart gun consists of elastic potential energy. Due to this energy, the spring is able to apply force on
the dart and does work, i.e., displacement of the dart.

A Hammer Whenever we use a hammer to, let’s say, hit a nail and drive it into the wall, we are
simply applying some force on the nail with the help of the hammer which is causing some work to
be done. At rest, a hammer does not contain any kinetic energy but only some amount of potential
energy. When we swing a hammer up to some distance from the nail before hitting it, kinetic energy
comes into play, and the combination of kinetic energy and potential energy in the hammer, called
mechanical energy, will cause the driving of the nail into the wall. Or, we can say that the force
applied by the hammer to do work on the nail is mechanical energy, which is the sum of potential
and kinetic energ.