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The law of conservation of energy states that energy cannot be created or destroyed in a closed system, but can be transformed into different forms. Kinetic energy is the energy an object possesses while in motion, while potential energy is stored energy due to gravity, electric, magnetic, or elastic force fields. The law applies to a pendulum, where the ball’s energy is either potential or kinetic, and the total energy is the sum of both.
The law of conservation of energy is a principle of physics which states that energy cannot be created or destroyed in a closed system. It is expressed in the First Law of Thermodynamics, which states that energy can be transformed into many forms, such as light or heat, but the sum total of the energies is conserved or remains constant. Generally, this law is illustrated with a pendulum. The height at which the ball is released at one end of a pendulum will be equal to the height the ball will reach at the other end. Indeed, in a theoretically frictionless environment, the ball will keep swinging back and forth forever.
As a fundamental concept in physics, the law of conservation of energy provides an explanation of how energy is stored and converted within a system. Generally, one form of energy can be converted into another form of energy. For example, potential energy can be converted into kinetic energy.
The kinetic energy of a particular object is the energy it possesses while in motion. As an expression, the kinetic energy is equal to half the object’s mass, multiplied by the square of the object’s velocity, or KE = 1/2mv2. Kinetic energy consists of three types of energies. Vibrational kinetic energy is the energy due to vibrational motion and rotational kinetic energy is the energy due to rotational motion. Translational kinetic energy is the energy due to the movement of the center of mass from one point to another.
Generally, an object’s potential energy is the energy that is stored while at rest in a force field. Gravity is a force that acts on an object and gives it potential energy. For example, a ball on top of a hill has a certain amount of energy stored due to gravity. Other types of potential energy include electric, magnetic, and elastic. An example of elastic potential energy is a stretched spring.
The law of conservation of energy states that the potential energy of a ball on a hill is usually converted into kinetic energy as the ball begins to roll down the hill due to gravity. Similarly, the potential energy of a stretched spring becomes kinetic energy when the spring is released. In a pendulum, the law states that, when the ball is at its highest point, all energy is potential energy and kinetic energy is zero. At the bottom of the ball, all energy in the ball is kinetic and the potential energy is zero. The total energy of the ball is the sum of potential energy and kinetic energy.
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