In our previous blog of the series, we talked about ‘work’. Today we are going to discuss ‘energy’.
Energy is the word we use generally in daily life according to our needs. In science, we have a specific meaning and definition for it.
The term ‘energy’ is defined as “capacity of doing work”. Hence, if an object having capability to do a work is said to possess a form of energy and any object possessing any form of energy can do work.
That’s why, the unit of energy and work is same. The unit ‘Joule’ is named after JamesPrescott Joule. A British physicist who formulated the heating effect ofelectric current. He has also verified the law of conservation of energy experimentally and discovered the mechanical equivalent of heat. We will discuss all these discoveries in our advance blogs of the series. 1 joule (J) of energy is defined as the amount of energy required to do 1 joule (J) of work.
As we discussed in definition, energy is the capability of doing work. The capability of doing different kind of work is known as different forms of energy. There are too many forms of energy we will explore in the future. Here we will discuss some basics of mechanical energy.
In science we define mechanical energy as the sum of kinetic and potential energy.
Kinetic energy (K.E)
Kinetic energy is a form of energy, possessed by an object due to its motion. Hence, K.E varies with respect to speed or velocity of an object.
The relation between K.E and speed of an object is stablished in equation,
K.E = ½ mv2
Where, K.E is directly proportional to the square of the velocity. That is, to increase K.E we have to we have to increase velocity and wise versa.
Potential energy (P.E)
Potential energy is the form of energy possessed by an object due to its position.
Hence, if the position or an object is changing, the P.E will also change. This relation is stablished in the equation,
P.E = mgh
Hence, if the position of an object is changed vertically, to the surface of earth, the P.E will vary proportionally.
These are two basic forms of energy. There are many more to discuss and yet many-many more to discover.
In our next blog, we will discuss about if all different forms of energies are interconvertible? If yes, are they conserve or not? Until then, try to find out more forms of energy and tell us in the comment box.
