Exploring Potential Energy

Dr. Forrester introduces potential energy, explaining it as stored energy that can do work. The video covers gravitational energy, using examples like rocks and waterfalls. It includes experiments to demonstrate energy conversion, such as a waterfall experiment and a spoon experiment. Various types of stored energy, including chemical, mechanical, and thermal, are discussed, with examples like batteries, digestion, and solar panels.

What is potential energy and how is it described in the context of stored energy?

Explain how the potential energy of a rock changes when it is lifted.

Describe the relationship between gravitational energy and potential energy.

What happens to the potential energy of water when it is released from a dam?

How does digestion convert stored energy in food into usable energy for the body?

What is the role of thermal energy in storing energy from heat?

Describe an experiment that demonstrates potential energy changing into kinetic energy.