Energy

So this week's topic is ENERGY. The first thing we learned about energy is that it involves work ("DO WORK, SON"), but not the kind of work you might be thinking about. Work is the average force multiplied by the length or distance an object is pushed or pulled. Work comes in *Joules*, which are equivalent to Newton x mass. We learned about the law of Conservation of Energy, which is basically the same thing as Conservation of Momentum: energy can neither be created nor destroyed, it only changes forms. Energy is also a SCALAR, which means that it does not depend on direction, just magnitude (no negatives found here!) There are two kinds of energies; potential energy and kinetic energy. Potential energy is the energy in a still object (equivalent to the product of mass, gravity, and height). Kinetic energy, on the other hand, is the energy of motion (equivalent to the product of 1/2 mass and velocity squared). We are going to be doing a lab on Monday, so we'll literally get to see energy in motion.