KINETIC ENERGY

Kinetic energy is energy that moves, or is motion energy. An object that is moving, whether that movement is horizontal or vertical movement, has kinetic energy. When an object has kinetic energy, the elements of the object that are moving are elements within the object such as waves, atoms, electrons, and molecules of that object that are causing it to move. Examples of objects that have kinetic energy would be any object that moves. A meteor has kinetic energy, a bullet that has been shot from a gun has kinetic energy, and a football that has just been kicked has kinetic energy. Kinetic energy is useful because the energy of movement in itself can be used.Kinetic energy can be converted into other forms of energy that is useful, such as heat or potential energy. In some cases, kinetic energy can even be converted into light or sound as well. There are many forms of kinetic energy - vibrational, rotational, and translational: Vibrational energy is the kinetic energy that is caused when an object is vibrating, or experiencing vibrational movement. An example of this would be a cell phone that vibrates. The cell phone will move slightly when accepting a call, and thus the energy created from its vibrations is kinetic vibrational energy. Kinetic rotational energy is energy that is caused when an object is undergoing a rotational motion or movement. The wheel on a moving bicycle for example is kinetic rotational energy. The Earth also as it rotates on its axis is in a constant state of kinetic rotational energy. Translational kinetic energy is the kinetic energy that is most commonly discussed. This is the energy that occurs when an object is moving from one place to another. For example, the football that has just been kicked is translational kinetic energy. The amount of kinetic energy that a moving object has depends on how heavy the object is and how fast it is moving. The greater the mass of the object and the greater its speed, the more kinetic energy it has. In other words, heavier and faster objects will have more kinetic energy than slower objects that are lighter in weight. The following equation is used to represent the kinetic energy (KE) of an object:

KE = * m * v2
Here, m represents the mass of the object, and v represents the speed of the object.

This is the energy that a body possesses because of its motion the greater speed at which it is moving the greater its kinetic energy, the energy in if case is equal to the work done by the body in coming to rest. A hammer possesses kinetic energy as it strikes a nail and this energy enables it to do work driving the nail into a piece of wood. Linear and angular motion both give rise to kinetic energy. Kinetic energy is a scalar quantity; it does not have a direction. Unlike velocity, acceleration, force, and momentum, the kinetic energy of an object is completely described by magnitude alone. Like work and potential energy, the standard metric unit of measurement for kinetic energy is the Joule. As might be implied by the above equation, 1 Joule is equivalent to 1 kg*(m/s) ^2.

Problems: 1)
Determine the kinetic energy of a 625-kg roller coaster car that is moving with a speed of 18.3 m/s. Solution : KE= (1/2) (625 kg.)(18.3m/s)^2 =

1.05 x105 Joules (rounded off)

2) If the roller coaster car in the above problem were moving with twice the
speed, then what would be its new kinetic energy? Solution: So it is said that the speed is doubled making K quadrupled. KE = 0.5*625 kg*(36.6 m/s) ^2 KE = 4.20 x 105 Joules

3) Missy Diwater, the former platform diver for the Ringling Brother's Circus, had a kinetic energy of 12 000 J just prior to hitting the bucket of water. If Missy's mass is 40 kg, then what is her speed?
KE = 0.5*m*v2 12 000 J = (0.5) * (40 kg) * v2 300 J = (0.5) * v2 600 J = v2 v = 24.5 m/s

4) A swing oscillates through a height of 3m. How fast is the little girl going at the bottom of the swing? Solution: So in this situation work is done by gravity so we can say that mgh= (1/2)mv^2 so we cancel m (g stands for the gravitational acceleration) (9.8m/s^2)(3m.) = (1/2)(v^2) =7.65 m/s (this is best explained with the law of conservation of energy)

Law of Conservation of Energy

Energy in a system may take on various forms (e.g. kinetic, potential, heat, light). The law of conservation of energy states that energy may neither be created nor destroyed. Therefore the sum of all the energies in the system is a constant.
Everyday Examples: Law of Conservation of Energy The law of conservation of energy can be seen in these everyday examples of energy transference:

Water can produce electricity. Water falls from the sky, converting potential energy to kinetic energy. This energy is then used to rotate the turbine of a generator to produce electricity. In this process, the potential energy of water in a dam can be turned into kinetic energy which can then become electric energy. When playing pool, the cue ball is shot at a stationary 8 ball. The cue ball has energy. When the cue ball hits the 8 ball, the energy transfers from the cue ball to the 8 ball, sending the 8 ball into motion. The cue ball loses energy because the energy it had has been transferred to the 8 ball, so the cue ball slows down.

Kelly ran across the room and bumped into her brother, pushing him to the floor. The kinetic energy she possessed because of her movement was transferred to her brother, causing him to move. When a moving car hits a parked car and causes the parked car to move, energy is transferred from the moving car to the parked car. When playing the lawn game bocce ball, a small ball is thrown with the intention of hitting larger balls and causing them to move. When a larger ball moves because it was hit by the small ball, energy is transferred from the small ball to the larger one. When you push a book across the table, the energy from your moving arm is transferred from your body to the book, causing the book to move. A cat sitting on the highest branch of a tree has what is known as potential energy. If he falls off the branch and falls to the ground, his potential energy is now being converted into kinetic energy. When kicking a football that is sitting on the ground, energy is transferred from the kickers body to the ball, setting it in motion. Sam was rearranging furniture, and needed help to push the heavy sofa. His brother came over, and together they were able to lift the sofa onto sliders. This made it easy to push the sofa across the room. When Sam and his brother pushed the sofa and it slid across the wood floor, energy was transferred from the men to the piece of furniture. A fly ball hits a window in a house, shattering the glass. The energy from the ball was transferred to the glass, making it shatter into pieces and fly in various directions. Two football players collided on the field, and both went flying backwards. Energy was transferred from each player to the other, sending them in the opposite direction from which they had been running. Claire threw the ball and it hit her mothers vase, knocking it over. Energy was transferred from the moving ball to the stationary vase, causing the vase to move. Fingers hitting piano keys transfer energy from the players hand to the keys. Billy hit the punching bag, transferring energy from his arm to the stationary bag. The dog ran in into the Christmas tree and knocked it over. Energy was transferred from the moving dog to the stationary tree, causing the tree to move. When the car hit the road sign, the sign fell over. Energy was transferred from the moving car to the stationary sign, causing the sign to move. No energy was lost in the transfer.

Potential energy of oil or gas is changed into energy to heat a building. When a bowling ball knocks over pins that had been standing still, energy is transferred from the ball to the pins. No energy is lost. Beth hit the wall so hard that she put a hole in it. Energy was transferred from Beths body to the drywall, causing it to move. When the car hit the curb it broke apart. Energy from the moving car was transferred to the non-moving cement, causing it to move. These law of conservation of energy examples show how commonplace this physics concept is in everyday life.

Bibliography:
http://library.thinkquest.org/2745/data/lawce1.htm http://examples.yourdictionary.com/law-of-conservation-of-energy-examples.html http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/energy/u5l1c.cfm http://easycalculation.com/physics/classical-physics/learn-kinetic.php http://www.ifpaenergyconference.com/Kinetic-Energy.html http://www.launc.tased.edu.au/online/sciences/PhysSci/done/kinetics/wep/Work.htm