Kinetic and Potential Energy

Energy - the ability to cause change

Potential Energy - the energy an object has because of where it is and its shape

Ex. A ball sitting at the top of a hill.

Kinetic Energy - energy of motion

Ex. A ball rolling down a hill.

Kinetic and Potential energy almost constantly convert from one to the other everywhere. A child on a swing has potential energy at the top of the swing, and kinetic as they go down and back up again. The child is constantly converting their energy from potential to kinetic and back again.