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| Kinetic Energy |
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The kinetic energy of an object is the extra energy which it possesses due to its motion. |
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It is defined as the work needed to accelerate a body of a given mass from rest to its current velocity. |
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There are many forms of kinetic energy - vibrational (the energy due to vibrational motion), rotational (the energy due to rotational motion), and translational (the energy due to motion from one location to another).
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The following equation is used to represent the kinetic energy (EK) of an object. |
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EK = (1/2) m v2
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Where, m = mass of object
v = speed of object |
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This equation reveals that the kinetic energy of an object is directly proportional to the square of its speed.
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Kinetic energy is a scalar quantity; it does not have a direction.
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The standard metric unit of measurement for kinetic energy is the Joule.
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