potential energy

potential energy

the energy of a body or system as a result of its position in an electric, magnetic, or gravitational field. It is measured in joules (SI units), electronvolts, ergs, etc.

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

potential energy

The energy possessed by a body or system by virtue of its position or configuration. It is equal to the work done by the system changing from its given state to some standard state. In a gravitational field, a mass m placed at a height h above a standard level (say the surface of the Earth) has potential energy mgh, where g is the acceleration of gravity.

Collins Dictionary of Astronomy © Market House Books Ltd, 2006

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Potential Energy

 

the part of the total mechanical energy of a system that depends on the relative positions of the particles making up the system and on the positions of the particles in the external force field, such as a gravitational field. The potential energy of a system in a given position is numerically equal to the work that the forces acting on the system perform when the system is shifted from this position to a position in which the potential energy is arbitrarily assumed to be equal to zero.

It follows from this definition that the concept of potential energy holds only for conservative systems, that is, systems in which the work of the acting forces depends only on the initial and final positions of the system. Thus, for a weight P raised to a height h, the potential energy will be equal to Ph; it will be equal to zero when h equals zero. For a weight attached to a spring, the potential energy will be 0.5cλ², where λ is the elongation or compression of the spring and c is the spring’s stiffness. Again, the energy is zero when λ is zero. For two particles with masses m₁ and m₂, attracted according to the law of universal gravitation, the potential energy is —fm₁m₂/r, where f is the gravitational constant and r is the distance between the particles. In this case, the energy is zero when r = ∞. The potential energy of two point charges e₁ and e₂ is calculated in a similar manner.

S. M. TARG

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

potential energy

[pə′ten·chəl ′en·ər·jē]

(mechanics)

The capacity to do work that a body or system has by virtue of its position or configuration.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.