Lesson 6: Mechanical Energy

What is mechanical energy? Mechanical energy is energy of motion. It is energy that an object has because of its motion or position.

Discovery Education Video: Lord of the Slings Describes a massive trebuchet that is strong enough to throw multiple cars at one time

Mechanical Energy is often created using other forms of energy.

Discovery Education Video: States of Matter: Dry Ice Jeff and Matt demonstrate the explosive power of dry ice. As the frozen carbon dioxide changes from a solid to a gas, the gaseous CO2 expands to fill up its container.

Discovery Education Video: Liquid Nitrogen: States of Matter The program presents the properties of nitrogen in both its liquid and gaseous states. As a liquid, nitrogen is able to freeze almost any object. The team films the changes that occur to normally flexible objects after being submerged in liquid nitrogen and dropped onto the laboratory table. Additionally, the team experiments with what happens to liquid nitrogen in a sealed bottle as it warms up to room temperature and becomes a gas.

Our bodies use stored chemical energy from the food that we eat to allow us to move.

Calories from food are stored in our bodies until they are used as mechanical energy.

Mechanical Energy: Key Questions What is mechanical energy? How does our body generate mechanical energy? Give three examples of mechanical energy, and explain how this energy is generated in each example.