potential energy

Energy possessed by an object by virtue of its relative position or state (for example, as in a compressed spring or a muscle). It can be thought of as ‘stored’ energy. An object that has been raised has stored energy due to its height. It is described as having gravitational potential energy.

If a ball is raised to a certain height and released, the ball falls to the ground. The potential energy changes to kinetic energy. As the ball hits the ground some of the kinetic energy is lost as sound and elastic energy. A stretched spring has stored elastic energy; this is known as elastic potential energy. Springs are designed to store energy and release it either rapidly or slowly. For example, a mechanical toy works by an unwinding spring coil inside the toy. As the coil unwinds, elastic potential energy changes into kinetic and sound energy as the toy operates.