What is potential energy?

What is potential energy?

• A. Energy due to motion
• B. Energy stored due to position or condition.
• C. Energy transferred by heat
• D. Energy at rest

Answer: (B)

Potential energy is energy stored in a system because of its position or configuration in a force field. It sits there until something causes the system to change its state, at which point that stored energy can be released as motion or other forms of energy. For example, a book held above the ground has gravitational potential energy because of its height; a stretched spring has elastic potential energy because of its stretch; chemical bonds store chemical potential energy that can be released in reactions. When the position or condition changes, the stored energy can become kinetic energy, producing motion. In contrast, energy associated with motion is kinetic energy, energy transferred by heat is thermal energy (and involves heat flow), and simply saying energy at rest isn’t a complete description because an object can have stored energy even when not moving.

Potential energy is energy stored in a system because of its position or configuration in a force field. It sits there until something causes the system to change its state, at which point that stored energy can be released as motion or other forms of energy. For example, a book held above the ground has gravitational potential energy because of its height; a stretched spring has elastic potential energy because of its stretch; chemical bonds store chemical potential energy that can be released in reactions. When the position or condition changes, the stored energy can become kinetic energy, producing motion.

In contrast, energy associated with motion is kinetic energy, energy transferred by heat is thermal energy (and involves heat flow), and simply saying energy at rest isn’t a complete description because an object can have stored energy even when not moving.