Re: Mechanical energy

> Can you tell us what forms of energy come from mechanical energy.
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Reply:

You can describe as 'mechanical energy' the energy that an object has because it is moving. That is, it has a certain energy which is proportional to its mass and to the square of the speed at which it is moving. You can also extend this idea to look at rotational energy (when an object is spinning, it has energy because its rim is moving along at a certain speed), and to the energy of heat. That is, all the molecules or atoms in an object are each vibrating a bit, and that vibration is motion, and so we can describe all the energy associated with that microscopic motion as 'heat' energy.

It is possible to convert mechanical energy into other forms of energy given the right equipment. So moving water can, by spinning a turbine, transfer its mechanical energy into electrical energy, and so forth.

-Greg Billock