Mechanical Energy: Understanding, Formula, And Examples

YOGYAKARTA - Mechanical energy is one of the important physical sciences to understand or study. Examples of mechanical energy are very easy to find around us. Mechanical energy is the energy contained in objects because of their motion and position. So what is mechanical energy and what is the explanation like?

Maybe you're wondering why an object can move and how it works. The movement and position of an object can be explained with mechanical energy. Examples of mechanical energy around us, such as pedaling a bicycle, turning the door button, turning the mill, toy gun, steam engine, and so on.

To understand the simple picture of mechanical energy, you can see that an object will move from its initial position to its destination because of the mechanical energy movement. To better understand the meaning of mechanical energy, see the following explanation.

Mechanical energy is the energy that exists in an object because of its motion and position. This energy is a combination of the kinetic energy and potential energy found in an object. The nature of mechanical energy has a fixed value, while the kinetic energy and potential energy are always changing.

Based on the Big Indonesian Dictionary, mechanical energy occurs when an object moves or experiences a change in style due to energy transferred by other objects and is used as driving energy. So the displacement of an object from its initial position to its final position or destination position is caused by movement using mechanical energy.

Mechanical energy is generally owned by moving objects or objects with a certain height. When the object moves faster and the position is higher, the mechanical energy it has is also greater.

Mechanical energy is found in everyday human activities. Examples of mechanical energy such as playing swing, jumping, or hitting and kicking the ball. Mechanical energy can turn into other forms of energy, such as heat energy, sound energy, and light energy.

The mechanical energy formula is important to understand, especially for those of you who study in the field of Physics or work in related fields. Mechanical energy has the following formula:

EM = EK + EP

Information:

Mechanical energy is formed from the amount of kinetic energy and potential energy in an object. Here are the elements of mechanical energy that are important for you to know:

Kinetic energy is the energy contained in the object because of the motion it has. The formation of kinetic energy depends on the mass and velocity of that object. The kinetic energy formula is EK = 1/2mv. The symbol EK is kinetic energy (Joule), m is the mass of the object (kg), and v is the velocity of the object (m/s).

Potential energy is the energy contained in the object due to its position or state. The formation of this energy depends on the type of force that works on the object. There are two types of potential energy, namely gravitational potential energy and elastic potential energy.

The gravitational potential energy is the energy contained in the object due to its height to the Earth's surface. The formation of this energy depends on the mass, height, and gravitational acceleration of the object. The gravitational potential energy formula is EP = mgh. The symbol EP is the gravitational potential energy (Joule), m is the mass of the object (kg), g is the gravitational acceleration (9.8 m/s), and h is the height of the object (m).

Elastic potential energy is the energy present in the body due to its ability to return to its original shape once withdrawn or suppressed. The formation of this energy depends on the spring constant and the change in the spring length. The elastic potential energy formula is EP = 1/2kx. The symbol EP is the elastic potential energy (Joule), k is the spring constant (N/m), and x is the change in the spring length (m).

That's a review of the understanding of mechanical energy and its examples. The mechanical energy formula is important to understand for those of you who study majoring in Physics or students who have learned from Physics. Also read what energy conversion is and example application.

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