Energy generally and qualitatively speaking, is the property
(or the quantity of the property) of doing things or supplying power.If power
is like the strength of a weightlifter, energy is like his endurance. Energy is
a measure of how long we can sustain the output of power, or how much work we
can do.
There are two kinds of energy:
potential and
kinetic
Potential energy is waiting to be converted into power. It is
the capacity for doing work that a body possesses because of its position or
condition.Gasoline in a fuel tank, food in your stomach, a compressed spring,
and a weight hanging from a tree are all examples of potential energy.
Kinetic energy is energy a body possesses because it is in
motion. The kinetic energy of a body with mass
m moving at a
velocity
v is one half the product of the mass of the body and
the square of its velocity.Even when a body appears to be at rest, its atoms
and molecules are in constant motion and thus have kinetic energy. The average
kinetic energy of the atoms or molecules is measured by the temperature of the
body.
Kinetic energy is similar to potential energy. The more the object weighs, and
the faster it is moving, the more kinetic energy it has. The formula for
kinetic energy is:
KE = 1/2*m*v2
where,
m is the mass and
v is the velocity.
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