Why is the kinetic energy of a body falling on the ground equal to it's potential energy at the greatest height

Answer 1

The kinetic energy of a body falling on the ground is equal to its potential energy at the greatest height due to the conservation of energy. This principle states that energy cannot be created or destroyed but can only be converted from one form to another.

When an object is at its greatest height, it possesses the maximum potential energy, as it has the potential to do work by transforming that energy into other forms. As the object starts to fall, this potential energy is gradually converted into kinetic energy, which is the energy of motion.

As the object falls down, the potential energy decreases while the kinetic energy increases due to the force of gravity. At the point of impact on the ground, all the potential energy has been converted into kinetic energy, resulting in maximum kinetic energy and no remaining potential energy.

This relationship between potential and kinetic energy is described by the conservation of energy, which states that the total energy of a closed system remains constant. In this scenario, with only gravitational forces acting on the object, the total energy (potential energy + kinetic energy) of the system is conserved, even though the energy is transformed from one form to another.