Potential energy

Potential energy is energy that is stored in an object. An example is gravitational potential energy such as that of a roller coaster train at the peak of its lift hill.

The formula for gravitational potential energy for two point masses is:

where

is Newton's gravitational constant

and are the masses of the two particles

is their separation

If one particle moves a radial distance (towards or away) from the other a distance and , then the change in potential can be approximated by

where is the gravitational field strength in the vicinity of the initial and final points.

See also

• Kinetic Energy