energy, in physics, the ability or capacity to do work or to produce change. Forms of energy include heat heat, nonmechanical energy in transit, associated with differences in temperature between a system and its surroundings or between parts of the same system.

Measures of Heat

..... Click the link for more information. , light light, visible electromagnetic radiation . Of the entire electromagnetic spectrum , the human eye is sensitive to only a tiny part, the part that is called light. The wavelengths of visible light range from about 350 or 400 nm to about 750 or 800 nm.
..... Click the link for more information. , sound sound, any disturbance that travels through an elastic medium such as air, ground, or water to be heard by the human ear. When a body vibrates, or moves back and forth (see vibration ), the oscillation causes a periodic disturbance of the surrounding air or other
..... Click the link for more information. , electricity electricity, class of phenomena arising from the existence of charge . The basic unit of charge is that on the proton or electron —the proton's charge is designated as positive while the electron's is negative.
..... Click the link for more information. , and chemical energy. Energy and work are measured in the same units—foot-pounds, joules, ergs, or some other, depending on the system of measurement being used. When a force force, commonly, a "push" or "pull," more properly defined in physics as a quantity that changes the motion, size, or shape of a body. Force is a vector quantity, having both magnitude and direction.
..... Click the link for more information. acts on a body, the work performed (and the energy expended) is the product of the force and the distance over which it is exerted.

Potential and Kinetic Energy

Potential energy is the capacity for doing work that a body possesses because of its position or condition. For example, a stone resting on the edge of a cliff has potential energy due to its position in the earth's gravitational field. If it falls, the force of gravity (which is equal to the stone's weight; see gravitation gravitation, the attractive force existing between any two particles of matter .

The Law of Universal Gravitation

Since the gravitational force is experienced by all matter in the universe, from the largest galaxies down to the smallest particles, it
..... Click the link for more information. ) will act on it until it strikes the ground; the stone's potential energy is equal to its weight times the distance it can fall. A charge in an electric field also has potential energy because of its position; a stretched spring has potential energy because of its condition. Chemical energy is a special kind of potential energy; it is the form of energy involved in chemical reactions. The chemical energy of a substance is due to the condition of the atoms of which it is made; it resides in the chemical bonds that join the atoms in compound substances (see chemical bond chemical bond, mechanism whereby atoms combine to form molecules . There is a chemical bond between two atoms or groups of atoms when the forces acting between them are strong enough to lead to the formation of an aggregate with sufficient stability to be regarded as
..... Click the link for more information. ).

Kinetic energy is energy a body possesses because it is in motion. The kinetic energy of a body with mass m moving at a velocity v is one half the product of the mass of the body and the square of its velocity, i.e., KE = 1-2mv². Even when a body appears to be at rest, its atoms and molecules are in constant motion and thus have kinetic energy. The average kinetic energy of the atoms or molecules is measured by the temperature temperature, measure of the relative warmth or coolness of an object. Temperature is measured by means of a thermometer or other instrument having a scale calibrated in units called degrees. The size of a degree depends on the particular temperature scale being used.
..... Click the link for more information. of the body.

The difference between kinetic energy and potential energy, and the conversion of one to the other, is demonstrated by the falling of a rock from a cliff, when its energy of position is changed to energy of motion. Another example is provided in the movements of a simple pendulum (see harmonic motion harmonic motion, regular vibration in which the acceleration of the vibrating object is directly proportional to the displacement of the object from its equilibrium position but oppositely directed.
..... Click the link for more information. ). As the suspended body moves upward in its swing, its kinetic energy is continuously being changed into potential energy; the higher it goes the greater becomes the energy that it owes to its position. At the top of the swing the change from kinetic to potential energy is complete, and in the course of the downward motion that follows the potential energy is in turn converted to kinetic energy.

Conversion and Conservation of Energy

It is common for energy to be converted from one form to another; however, the law of conservation of energy, a fundamental law of physics, states that although energy can be changed in form it can be neither created nor destroyed (see conservation laws conservation laws, in physics, basic laws that together determine which processes can or cannot occur in nature; each law maintains that the total value of the quantity governed by that law, e.g., mass or energy, remains unchanged during physical processes.
..... Click the link for more information. ). The theory of relativity shows, however, that mass and energy are equivalent and thus that one can be converted into the other. As a result, the law of conservation of energy includes both mass and energy.

Many transformations of energy are of practical importance. Combustion combustion, rapid chemical reaction of two or more substances with a characteristic liberation of heat and light; it is commonly called burning. The burning of a fuel (e.g., wood, coal, oil, or natural gas) in air is a familiar example of combustion.
..... Click the link for more information. of fuels results in the conversion of chemical energy into heat and light. In the electric storage battery storage battery is generally of the wet-cell type; i.e., it uses a liquid electrolyte and can be recharged many times. The storage battery consists of several cells connected in series.
..... Click the link for more information. chemical energy is converted to electrical energy and conversely. In the photosynthesis photosynthesis (fō'tōsĭn`thəsĭs)
..... Click the link for more information. of starch, green plants convert light energy from the sun into chemical energy. Hydroelectric facilities convert the kinetic energy of falling water into electrical energy, which can be conveniently carried by wires to its place of use (see power, electric power, electric, energy dissipated in an electrical or electronic circuit or device per unit of time. The electrical energy supplied by a current to an appliance enables it to do work or provide some other form of energy such as light or heat.
..... Click the link for more information. ). The force of a nuclear explosion results from the partial conversion of matter to energy (see nuclear energy nuclear energy, the energy stored in the nucleus of an atom and released through fission, fusion, or radioactivity . In these processes a small amount of mass is converted to energy according to the relationship E = mc², where E
..... Click the link for more information. ).

energy

Capacity for doing work. Energy exists in various forms—including kinetic, potential, thermal, chemical, electrical (see electricity), and nuclear—and can be converted from one form to another. For example, fuel-burning heat engines convert chemical energy to thermal energy; batteries convert chemical energy to electrical energy. Though energy may be converted from one form to another, it may not be created or destroyed; that is, total energy in a closed system remains constant. All forms of energy are associated with motion. A rolling ball has kinetic energy, for instance, whereas a ball lifted above the ground has potential energy, as it has the potential to move if released. Heat and work involve the transfer of energy; heat transferred may become thermal energy. See also activation energy, binding energy, ionization energy, mechanical energy, solar energy, zero-point energy.