The Example of a Roller Coaster
A roller coaster operates on this same principle of energy transformation. Work is initially done on a roller coaster car to lift to its initial summit. Once lifted to the top of the summit, the roller coaster car has a large quantity of potential energy and virtually no kinetic energy (the car is almost at rest). If it can be assumed that no external forces are doing work upon the car as it travels from the initial summit to the end of the track (where finally an external braking system is employed), then the total mechanical energy of the roller coaster car is conserved. As the car descends hills and loops, its potential energy is transformed into kinetic energy as the car speeds up. As the car climbs up hills and loops, its kinetic energy is transformed into potential energy as the car slows down. Yet in the absence of external forces doing work, the total mechanical energy of the car is conserved
.
Conservation of energy on a roller coaster ride means that the total amount of mechanical energy is the same at every location along the track. The amount of kinetic energy and the amount of potential energy is constantly changing. Yet the sum of the kinetic and potential energies is everywhere the same. This is illustrated in the diagram below. The total mechanical energy of the roller coaster car is a constant value of 40 000 Joules
.
The total mechanical energy of Li Ping Phar is the sum of the potential and kinetic energies. The two forms of energy sum up to 50 000 Joules. Notice also that the total mechanical energy of Li Ping Phar is a constant value throughout her motion. There are conditions under which the total mechanical energy will be a constant value and conditions under which it will be a changing value. This is the subject of Lesson 2 - the work-energy relationship. For now, merely remember that total mechanical energy is the energy possessed by an object due to either its motion or its stored energy of position. The total amount of mechanical energy is merely the sum of these two forms of energy. And finally, an object with mechanical energy is able to do work on another object.