Physics GCSE: Energy Calculations
Kinetic Energy
Kinetic energy tells us how much movement energy something has.
Kinetic energy doesn't just depend on how fast something is moving it also depends on mass.
If a car and a lorry are both travelling at the same speed the lorry will do much more damage if it hits something, than if the car does. The lorry has more kinetic energy even though they are both travelling at the same speed.
The amount of kinetic energy something has can be found using:
kinetic energy = ½ x mass x velocity2
Kinetic energy is measured in joules, J.
Mass is measured in kilograms, kg.
Velocity is measured in metres per second, m/s.
Here's one to try!
A pig of mass 80 kg flies over the S-Cool offices at 5 m/s. Choose the correct value for its kinetic energy from the options below:
