Chapter 2.8, Problem 1P

What is total energy? Identify the different forms of energy that constitute the total energy.

To determine

The total energy and identify the different forms of energy.

Explanation of Solution

The total energy is defined as the sum of all energies in the system. The total energy consists of kinetic energy, potential energy, and internal energy. The expression for total energy is as below.

$\begin{array}{c}E=U+\text{KE}+\text{PE}\\ =U+\frac{1}{2}m{V}^2+mgz\end{array}$

Here, the internal energy is U, mass of the system is m, the gravitational acceleration is g, the elevation of the center of gravity relative to some arbitrarily selected reference level is z, and velocity of the system relative to some fixed reference frame is V.

The different forms of energy are identified as kinetic, potential, and internal energies.