Question
What is mechanical energy?
Mechanical energy is the total energy of an object due to its motion and its position. It includes kinetic energy (moving energy) and potential energy (stored energy).
Describe a pendulum's mechanical energy.
A pendulum swings back and forth. At the highest points, it has the most potential energy. At the lowest point, it has the most kinetic energy. The mechanical energy is always the same if it’s not losing energy.
When is mechanical energy conserved? When is it not?
Mechanical energy is conserved when there are no outside forces like friction or air resistance. It’s not conserved when there are these forces, because energy can turn into heat or sound.
Simplify this so a 7th grader would understand completly
Mechanical energy is the total energy of an object due to its motion and its position. It includes kinetic energy (moving energy) and potential energy (stored energy).
Describe a pendulum's mechanical energy.
A pendulum swings back and forth. At the highest points, it has the most potential energy. At the lowest point, it has the most kinetic energy. The mechanical energy is always the same if it’s not losing energy.
When is mechanical energy conserved? When is it not?
Mechanical energy is conserved when there are no outside forces like friction or air resistance. It’s not conserved when there are these forces, because energy can turn into heat or sound.
Simplify this so a 7th grader would understand completly
Answers
GPT-4o mini
**What is mechanical energy?**
Mechanical energy is the energy an object has because of its movement and position. It's made up of two types of energy:
1. **Kinetic energy** - Energy of things that are moving.
2. **Potential energy** - Energy that is stored and can be used later (like a stretched rubber band).
**How does a pendulum's mechanical energy work?**
A pendulum swings back and forth. When it is at the top of its swing (the highest points), it has a lot of potential energy. When it swings down to the bottom (the lowest point), it has a lot of kinetic energy. If there is no energy lost, like from air or friction, the total mechanical energy stays the same throughout the swing.
**When is mechanical energy conserved?**
Mechanical energy is conserved (kept the same) when there are no outside forces like friction (which slows things down) or air resistance.
**When is it not conserved?**
Mechanical energy is not conserved when there are outside forces acting on it, like friction or air resistance. In these cases, some of the energy can be transformed into heat or sound instead of staying as mechanical energy.
Mechanical energy is the energy an object has because of its movement and position. It's made up of two types of energy:
1. **Kinetic energy** - Energy of things that are moving.
2. **Potential energy** - Energy that is stored and can be used later (like a stretched rubber band).
**How does a pendulum's mechanical energy work?**
A pendulum swings back and forth. When it is at the top of its swing (the highest points), it has a lot of potential energy. When it swings down to the bottom (the lowest point), it has a lot of kinetic energy. If there is no energy lost, like from air or friction, the total mechanical energy stays the same throughout the swing.
**When is mechanical energy conserved?**
Mechanical energy is conserved (kept the same) when there are no outside forces like friction (which slows things down) or air resistance.
**When is it not conserved?**
Mechanical energy is not conserved when there are outside forces acting on it, like friction or air resistance. In these cases, some of the energy can be transformed into heat or sound instead of staying as mechanical energy.