Energy

First lets get the idea that everything we do uses up energy. Walking, writing, even sleeping. The energy that you see most of the time is called kinetic energy. Kinetic energy is the energy of motion. For instance, lets say that you are on a see-saw. When your body starts to go up and down the kinetic energy is doing its thing. Or when you throw a ball; when the ball is moving the kinetic energy is taking place. The next kind of energy that we will talk about is potential energy. Potential energy is when an object is held in a certain position. For instace, if you stretch a rubberband you are causing potential energy. Lets put these two types of energy at work. As we already know the times when you are going down on the swing is kinetic energy. Yet I bet that you dont know that when your at the highest point of your downswing, you stop for a split second. That point is when the potential energy is at its maximum. The next type of energy is called mechanical energy. This is like when you do a push-up. Your arms push you off the ground. Another type of energy is nuclear energy. A general example of this is the sun. It gives everything on Earth energy. The final type of energy you should know is chemical energy. A good example of this would be food. We need food to move, talk, even sleep. So you got that? Good, that was the easy part. Now lets get into energy conversions. How many of you play sports? Baseball will be our example. When you whack a ball