Astrophysics (Index)About

kinetic energy

(KE)
(an object's energy due to its motion)

Kinetic energy (KE) is the energy an object has inherent in its motion. For example, an object coasting along a sheet of ice could be tied via a pulley to a weight and lift the weight, i.e., the energy of the object's motion used to do some work. Another clear instance is the action of a roller coaster: at the top of one of its hills, the train has the potential energy associated with its mass located at a height above ground. This potential energy is converted to kinetic energy as the train descends. The kinetic energy of the train at the bottom powers the train's climb up the next hill. Classical kinetic energy formula:

      1
ke = ——— mv²
      2

Relativistic:

          mc²
ke = ————————————— — mc²
      √ 1 - v²/c²

The relativistic formula produces virtually the same amount as the classical formula unless the speed is very fast, i.e., a good fraction of the speed of light. Thermal energy (aka heat energy), the energy due to a substance's temperature, is the collective kinetic energy of all the particles' individual movements. Sometimes this is assumed, such as stating that energy is converted to "kinetic energy" when it heats something. But other times the terms are treated as if thermal energy is not the same, e.g., statements such as "friction converts kinetic energy to thermal energy"; this latter can be treated as a less-formal usage of the phrase kinetic energy to mean "non-thermal kinetic energy".

It is of note that an object's velocity (and kinetic energy) are relative to some other object: neither is an absolute value, and there is some frame of reference in which a particular object's kinetic energy is zero. For example, given an impact of a fast-moving body, the kinetic energy powers a substantial effect (what could be described as an explosion), but if the impact is with another body with nearly the same velocity, the relative velocity between them is small as is their relative kinetic energy, and the effect is small.


(physics,energy)
Further reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinetic_energy
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/ke.html
https://astronomy.swin.edu.au/cosmos/k/Kinetic+Energy
https://physics.highpoint.edu/~jregester/potl/Mechanics/KE/KineticEnergyA.htm

Referenced by pages:
alpha particle
astrophysical neutrino
atmospheric escape
beta decay
binding energy
Boltzmann constant (k)
Boltzmann equation
carbon (C)
CNO cycle
Compton scattering
core collapse
cosmic neutrino background (CNB)
cosmic rays (CR)
cyclotron radiation emission spectroscopy (CRES)
dense core
dynamo
electron capture
electron volt (eV)
endothermic reaction
energetic neutral atom (ENA)
energy
entropy (S)
escape velocity (Ve)
fusion
Gamow peak
globular cluster (GC)
GRAPES-3
gravitational collapse
gravitational potential energy
gravitational wave (GW)
gravitationally bound
GZK limit
Hamiltonian
hardness
Hill stability
hydrodynamic escape
HZE ion
ionizing radiation
Jeans length
Jeans parameter (λ)
KATRIN
Kelvin-Helmholtz mechanism (KH mechanism)
Kelvin-Helmholtz timescale (KH timescale)
Landau damping
Local Interstellar Cloud (LIC)
magnetic dipole braking
magnetic reconnection
mass
Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution
neutron scattering
neutron spectrometer
oxygen burning
particle spectrometer
potential energy (PE)
power law
Project 8
pulsar (PSR)
quantum mechanics (QM)
reheating
relativistic energy
relativistic momentum
scattering
shock wave
solar energetic particle (SEP)
solar neutrino
solar particle
solar wind
spectroscopy
spin-down luminosity
superluminous supernova (SLSN)
suprathermal
temperature
tidal Q
very-high-energy gamma rays (VHEGR)
virial parameter
virial theorem
viscous dissipation

Index