• Question: im wondering, a book falls where does all the energy go?

    Asked by to Aled, Ellie, Fiona, Kev, Willem on 18 Mar 2014. This question was also asked by .
    • Photo: Aled Roberts

      Aled Roberts answered on 18 Mar 2014:

      Hey jordanhoang!

      For something to fall you have to raise it against gravity giving it gravitational kinetic energy… When it falls it has kinetic energy as it is travelling towards the ground due to gravity… If the book were to hit the floor, some of the energy would be transferred into sound (you would hear the book hit the floor) and some would be turned into heat due to friction against the ground.

      For more information you can see this example of a bouncing ball where a few more factors come into play such as the alacrity of the ball! http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/science/add_aqa_pre_2011/forces/kineticenergyrev2.shtml

      Hope that helps! Don’t forget to vote! 🙂

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