The ball is ready to hit the floor. Why potential energy and kinetic energy would you have?

Answer 1

In this scenario, you would have both potential energy and kinetic energy.

Initially, when the ball is held above the floor, it possesses potential energy. Potential energy is the stored energy an object possesses due to its position or state. In this case, because the ball is above the floor, it has potential energy due to its elevated position. The higher the ball is held, the greater the potential energy it possesses.

As the ball is released and starts to fall towards the floor, potential energy is gradually converted into kinetic energy. Kinetic energy is the energy possessed by an object due to its motion. As the ball falls, its potential energy decreases while its kinetic energy increases. At the instant just before the ball makes contact with the floor, all of the initially stored potential energy would be converted into kinetic energy, and it would be at its maximum kinetic energy state.

Therefore, when the ball hits the floor, it would have no potential energy but maximum kinetic energy.