3.5 Calculating Energy

Work & Energy

Potential Energy

At this point we already know that potential energy is the energy of position.

Potential energy is often called "stored energy."

To have potential energy, an object must be part of a system that can apply force to the object.

We can calculate the potential energy of an object using:

begin mathsize 28px style E subscript p space equals space F subscript a v e end subscript d end style
Where,
  • Fave = average force on object (in Newtons)
  • d = distance over which force can be applied (in m)
  • Ep = potential energy (in Joules)