In physical sciences, mechanical energy is the sum of potential energy and kinetic energy. The principle of conservation of mechanical energy states that if an isolated system is subject only to conservative forces, then the mechanical energy is constant. If an object moves in the opposite direction of a conservative net force, the potential energy will increase; and if the speed (not the velocity) of the object changes, the kinetic energy of the object also changes. In all real systems, however, nonconservative forces, such as frictional forces, will be present, but if they are of negligible magnitude, the mechanical energy changes little and its conservation is a useful approximation. In elastic collisions, the kinetic energy is conserved, but in inelastic collisions some mechanical energy may be converted into thermal energy. The equivalence between lost mechanical energy and an increase in temperature was discovered by James Prescott Joule.
Many devices are used to convert mechanical energy to or from other forms of energy, e.g. an electric motor converts electrical energy to mechanical energy, an electric generator converts mechanical energy into electrical energy and a heat engine converts heat to mechanical energy.
physical sciences, mechanicalenergy is the sum of potential energy and kinetic energy. The principle of conservation of mechanicalenergy states that if...
Mechanical calculator, a device used to perform the basic operations of arithmetic Mechanicalenergy, the sum of potential energy and kinetic energy Mechanical...
rotational kinetic and potential energy within a system is referred to as mechanicalenergy, whereas nuclear energy refers to the combined potentials...
or performing mechanical work to operate machines. For example, to heat a home, the furnace burns fuel, whose chemical potential energy is converted into...
reduce friction and energy loss. First-generation flywheel energy-storage systems use a large steel flywheel rotating on mechanical bearings. Newer systems...
and kinetic energy) or fuel-based power (chemical energy) into electric power for use in an external circuit. Sources of mechanicalenergy include steam...
less fuel was burned. Hydropower, a mechanicalenergy storage method, is the most widely adopted mechanicalenergy storage, and has been in use for centuries...
respiration of food, losses in converting energy from ATP into mechanical work inside the muscle, and mechanical losses inside the body. The latter two losses...
Specific mechanicalenergy is the mechanicalenergy of an object per unit of mass. Similar to mechanicalenergy, the specific mechanicalenergy of an object...
convert one or more forms of energy into mechanicalenergy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational...
enable the production of energy carriers. Conversion efficiency varies. For thermal energy, electricity and mechanicalenergy production is limited by...
The motion of the lever's end-point describes a fixed orbit, where mechanicalenergy can be exchanged. (see a hand-crank as an example.) In modern times...
In physics, a mechanical wave is a wave that is an oscillation of matter, and therefore transfers energy through a material medium. (Vacuum is, from classical...
Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics...
Magnetic energy – energy from magnetic fields Mechanicalenergy – The sum of (usually macroscopic) kinetic and potential energiesMechanical wave – (≥0)...
measurement of the input and output forces. Actual mechanical advantage takes into account energy loss due to deflection, friction, and wear. Adjoint...
isolated system. In mechanical engineering, dissipation is the irreversible conversion of mechanicalenergy into thermal energy with an associated increase...
and Angers Bridge). Mechanical systems store potential energy in different forms. For example, a spring/mass system stores energy as tension in the spring...
ideas of Lord Kelvin who, in the 1850s, took the theory of heat as mechanicalenergy loss in nature (as embodied in the first two laws of thermodynamics)...
materials are used in power actuators, converting electrical energy into mechanicalenergy, and in acoustic transducers, converting electric fields into...
system we let ΔE kin = large-scale mechanicalenergy, ΔE pot = large-scale potential energy, and ΔE tot = total energy. The first two quantities are specifiable...
electric motor is an electrical machine that converts electrical energy into mechanicalenergy. Most electric motors operate through the interaction between...
In mechanical engineering, mechanical efficiency is a dimensionless ratio that measures the efficiency of a mechanism or machine in transforming the power...
A flywheel is a mechanical device that uses the conservation of angular momentum to store rotational energy; a form of kinetic energy proportional to...
Mechanical toys are toys powered by mechanicalenergy. Depending on the mechanism used they can perform a range of motions, from simple to very complex...
storing potential energy, such as those that directly release electrical energy (such as batteries and capacitors) or mechanicalenergy (such as flywheels...
mechanicalenergy is converted into electrical energy. Electrostatic energy harvesters need a polarization source to work and to convert mechanical energy...