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.^[1]

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

\text{[math]}

where

\text{[math]}

is Newton's gravitational constant

\text{[math]}

and

\text{[math]}

are the masses of the two particles

\text{[math]}

is their separation

If one particle moves a radial distance (towards or away) from the other a distance $\text{[math]}$ and $\text{[math]}$ , then the change in potential $\text{[math]}$ can be approximated by

\text{[math]}

where $\text{[math]}$ is the gravitational field strength in the vicinity of the initial and final points.

References

↑ Wile, Jay L. Exploring Creation With Chemistry. Apologia Educational Ministries, Inc. 1998

See also

References

Conservapedia