To launch a spacecraft, chemical energy is used and with the right amount of kinetic energy, it reaches the orbital velocity.The kinetic energy of a body is not invariant. The reason behind this is that the kinetic energy depends on the frame of reference of the observer and the object.We all remember that energy can neither be created nor destroyed but converts from one form to another. This form can be thermal energy, electrical energy, chemical energy, rest energy, and many more. So, all these forms are classified into kinetic and potential energy. The kinetic energy in physics is defined as the energy possessed by the body due to its motion. It is the work required to accelerate an object of a certain mass to its stated velocity from rest. The energy gained during acceleration is the kinetic energy of the body, unless the speed changes. The body does the same amount of work as it decelerates to a state of rest from its current speed. Officially, kinetic energy is the Lagrangian of a system that includes derivatives for time variables. The kinetic energy in classical mechanics of any non-rotating object with ’m’ as the mass and speed ‘v’ is equated to 1/2mv2. It is a good estimation in relativistic mechanics but only when the value of ‘v’ is a lot less than the speed of light. The English unit for kinetic energy is foot-pound, while the standard unit is Joules.If you enjoy reading these facts about the characteristics of kinetic energy, then make sure to read some more interesting facts about the two examples of kinetic energy and types of kinetic energy here at Kidadl.Bizarre Characteristics Of Kinetic EnergyA bizarre characteristic of kinetic energy is that it has no magnitude but only has direction and it is a scalar quantity.The word kinetic originates from the Greek word kinesis, which means ‘motion’. The difference between kinetic and potential energy is traced back to the potentiality and actuality concepts of Aristotle. The meaning of words, work, and kinetic energy traces back to the 19th-century. Gaspard-Gustave Coriolis has been attributed for the early understandings of these concepts. He published a paper in 1829 with outlines of the mathematics behind kinetic energy. Lord Kelvin or William Thomson is considered to have coined the word kinetic energy around 1849-51.The kinetic energy of a moving object can be transferred from one body to another and can turn into many forms of energy. Mass is another form of energy, as relativity shows that energy and mass are interchangeable by keeping the value of the speed of light constant. The total kinetic energy in an object depends on multiple factors like acceleration due to external forces that cause a moment of inertia and work done on an object. Also, the work done on an object is the force that sets it in the same direction of motion. The two main factors that affect kinetic energy are speed and mass. The faster the object, the more kinetic energy it possesses. So, as kinetic energy increases with the square of the speed, then as the velocity of the object doubles in value, the kinetic energy quadruples.There are many everyday life kinetic energy examples. A windmill is a great example of kinetic energy. When the wind hits the windmill blades, the blades rotate, generating electricity. This air in motion has kinetic energy, which is transformed into mechanical energy.A car traveling at a given speed has kinetic energy. The reason behind this is that the object in motion has velocity and mass. If there was a truck traveling next to the car at the same velocity, the truck having a massive body has more kinetic energy than the car. The kinetic energy of an object is directly proportional to the mass of this object.There are so many ups and downs in a roller coaster. When the wagon of the roller coaster halts at the top, the kinetic energy becomes zero. When the wagon free falls from the top, kinetic energy gradually increases with an increase in speed.If a natural gas just sits in a supply pipe, it has potential energy, however, when the same gas is used in a furnace it possesses kinetic energy. Other examples of kinetic energy are a bus moving on a hill, dropping a glass, skateboarding, walking, cycling, running, flying an airplane, hydropower plants, and meteor showers.Sophisticated Characteristics Of Kinetic EnergyA sophisticated characteristic of kinetic energy is that the value of kinetic energy, just like other forms of energy, must either be positive or zero.Rotational kinetic energy, translational kinetic energy, and vibrational kinetic energy are three types of kinetic energy. The translational kinetic energy depends on the motion of an object from one point to another point through space. An example of translational kinetic energy is a free-falling ball from a rooftop, and the ball possesses translational kinetic energy as it continues to fall. As per the formula, the rule of transitional energy is the product of half of the mass (1/2 m) and velocity squared (v2). However, for objects moving at the speed of light, this equation is not valid. The reason behind this is with objects moving at high velocity, values get very small.The rotational kinetic energy depends on the motion centered on a given axis. If a ball starts to roll down a curved ramp instead of falling freely, it is known to possess rotational kinetic energy. In this case, the kinetic energy depends on the angular velocity and moment of inertia of the object. Angular velocity is nothing but rotational speed. Changing an object’s rotation depends on the moment of inertia. An example of rotational kinetic energy is, planets have rotational kinetic energy as they revolve around the sun. The total kinetic energy can be written as the sum of translational and rotational kinetic energy.When objects vibrate they possess vibrational kinetic energy. It is the vibration of the object that causes vibrational motion. For example, a vibrating cell phone is an example of vibrational kinetic energy.Types Of Kinetic EnergyA characteristic of kinetic energy is that it can be stored.Kinetic energy has different forms that are used every day by people. Electricity or electrical energy is produced with negatively-charged electrons flowing throughout a circuit. Electrons’ motion with electrical energy powers the devices that are plugged into the wall.Mechanical energy is the form of energy that can be seen. The faster a body moves, the more the mass and mechanical energy, hence, can do more work. A windmill can harness kinetic energy by motion of wind and using a flowing water source, a hydroelectric dam can harness kinetic energy. The potential energy and total kinetic energy together (or the sum) are called mechanical energy.Thermal energy can be experienced in the form of heat. However, thermal energy depends on the activity level of the molecule and atom in an object. They collide more often with an increase in speed. Examples of thermal energy are running the car engine or using the oven to bake. This is different from the concepts of thermodynamics.Radiant energy or light energy is just another form of electromagnetic radiation, referring to the energy that moves by waves or particles. This is the only type of energy that a human eye can see. One example is the sun’s heat is radiant energy. Some other examples are toasters, X-rays, and lightbulbs.Vibrations generate sound energy. A body produces movement through waves using a medium like air or water. When this reaches our eardrums, it vibrates and our brain interprets this vibration as sound. Vibrations produced by buzzing bees or drums are all interpreted as sound.While these are forms of energy of kinetic, chemical energy, elastic energy, nuclear energy, and gravitational energy, are forms of potential energy.Odd Characteristics Of Kinetic EnergyAn odd characteristic of kinetic energy is when one object in motion collides with another object, the colliding object transfers kinetic energy to this other object.A Scottish engineer and physicist called William Rankine coined the word potential energy. Unlike kinetic energy, potential energy is the energy of an object that is at rest. The kinetic energy of an object depends on the other objects’ state present in the environment, while potential energy is independent of the environment of an object. Kinetic energy is always transferred if one moving object comes in contact with another, whereas potential energy does not transfer. The standard unit of both these energies is the same. The main factors affecting the potential energy of an object are its mass and distance or height. However, an object has both kinetic and potential energies in certain cases. For example, a ball free-falling, which has not touched the ground, has both of these energies. Due to its motion, it has kinetic energy, and it is also at a certain distance from the ground, possessing potential energy.The super-soft polyurethane called Sorbothane absorbs vibrational energy and shock, making it preferable for one-dimensional polyurethanes like rubber.Although we have learned to harness kinetic energy using many things, sources like solar and wind are not always reliable. Also, it is very hard to stop any moving object. There are days when the winds are strong, and we are able to generate power, but on days with no motion of the air, the turbines will not turn. Similarly, solar power works great when the sun is out and bright, but on gloomy days efficiency of solar drastically decreases. Due to this, conservation of energy is vital and can be done so by collisions. Two types of collisions to consider are elastic and inelastic collisions. In inelastic collisions, two colliding bodies lose some kinetic energy after collisions. Although, momentum continues. For example, cars hitting each other from opposite directions come to halt with a loss in kinetic energy, or a ball bouncing on the ground does not reach the same height as it did with the first bounce. In an elastic collision, kinetic energy remains the same. For example, a car parked on a level road and no brakes are applied. If a larger truck hits this car with high kinetic energy, the car then moves for a short distance with a kinetic energy that is less than the van’s original energy. Although the van now moves slowly, the original kinetic energy does not change.Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestion for the characteristics of kinetic energy, then why not take a look at fun facts about energy or why ionic compounds conduct electricity?
To launch a spacecraft, chemical energy is used and with the right amount of kinetic energy, it reaches the orbital velocity.
