- "Potential energy is the energy held by an object because of its position relative to other objects, stresses within itself, its electric charge, or other factors."
The energy that an object possesses due to its position in a gravitational field or due to its configuration.
Work: Work is a scalar quantity that measures the amount of energy transferred when a force is applied to an object over a certain distance.
Force: A force is an influence applied to an object which tends to change its motion, speed or direction.
Kinetic Energy: Kinetic energy is the energy of motion, and is defined as half of the product of the mass and velocity squared.
Conservative and Non-conservative forces: Conservative forces are those which perform work independent of the path taken by the object, whereas non-conservative forces are those which depend on the path taken by the object.
Gravitational potential energy: Gravitational potential energy is the energy an object possesses due to its height above the ground, and is also known as the energy stored in the gravitational field.
Elastic potential energy: Elastic potential energy is the energy stored in a spring or elastic material when it is stretched or compressed.
Potential energy curve: A potential energy curve is a graph that represents the energy of a particle as a function of its position.
Conservation of energy: The principle of conservation of energy states that the total energy of an isolated system remains constant, even though energy may be transferred between different parts of the system.
Work Energy Theorem: The work-energy theorem states that the work done on an object by a force is equal to the change in kinetic energy of the object.
Equilibrium position: An equilibrium position is a point where an object is at rest, and where the potential energy is minimal.
Gravitational Potential Energy: It is the energy possessed by an object due to its height above the ground or its position in a gravitational field.
Elastic Potential Energy: It is the energy stored in a material when it is deformed and can be released when the material returns to its original shape.
Electrical Potential Energy: It is the energy possessed by an object due to its position in an electric field.
Magnetic Potential Energy: It is the energy possessed by an object due to its position in a magnetic field.
Nuclear Potential Energy: It is the energy stored in the nucleus of an atom, which can be released during nuclear reactions.
Chemical Potential Energy: It is the energy possessed by a substance due to the arrangement of the atoms and molecules within it, which can be released during chemical reactions.
Thermal Potential Energy: It is the energy associated with the temperature of a substance or system.
Radiant Potential Energy: It is the energy associated with electromagnetic radiation, such as light or radio waves.
Kinetic Potential Energy: It is the energy possessed by a moving object due to its velocity and mass.
- "The term potential energy was introduced by the 19th-century Scottish engineer and physicist William Rankine, although it has links to the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle's concept of potentiality."
- "Common types of potential energy include the gravitational potential energy of an object, the elastic potential energy of an extended spring, and the electric potential energy of an electric charge in an electric field."
- "The unit for energy in the International System of Units (SI) is the joule, which has the symbol J."
- "Potential energy is associated with forces that act on a body in a way that the total work done by these forces on the body depends only on the initial and final positions of the body in space."
- "These forces, whose total work is path independent, are called conservative forces."
- "If the force acting on a body varies over space, then one has a force field; such a field is described by vectors at every point in space, which is in turn called a vector field."
- "A conservative vector field can be simply expressed as the gradient of a certain scalar function, called a scalar potential."
- "The term potential energy was introduced by the 19th-century Scottish engineer and physicist William Rankine, although it has links to the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle's concept of potentiality."
- "The energy held by an object because of its position relative to other objects, stresses within itself, its electric charge, or other factors."
- "Gravitational potential energy of an object, elastic potential energy of an extended spring, and electric potential energy of an electric charge in an electric field."
- "The joule, which has the symbol J."
- "Conservative forces."
- "A conservative vector field can be simply expressed as the gradient of a certain scalar function, called a scalar potential."
- "The total work done by these forces on the body depends only on the initial and final positions of the body in space."
- "William Rankine, a 19th-century Scottish engineer and physicist."
- "Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle's concept of potentiality."
- "Factors such as the object's position relative to other objects, stresses within itself, its electric charge, or other factors."
- "Gravitational potential energy, elastic potential energy, and electric potential energy."
- "The symbol J represents the joule, the unit for energy in the International System of Units."