Imagine an object that can float it's on a table,take a beaker filled with water.Bring it onto the object and make it upside down,keep it on the object(most of the water should remain in),object floats i.e gets kinetic energy, from where has energy come?
1 Answer
From the potential energy of the water.
Explanation:
My image of a situation easier to describe:
Imagine a small object that can float in water, sitting in the bottom of an empty beaker. Fill beaker 3/4 full with water. The object rises with the water level. Where does the energy come from to raise the object in the beaker?
I hope this is an equivalent question.
When the water was poured in, its potential energy converted to kinetic energy. It churned around in the beaker for a while but eventually came to rest. Where did its original potential energy go?The water would be slightly warmer. It also would have done work to lift the object. So the water's original potential energy ended up as heat and the object's increase in potential energy.
I hope this helps,
Steve
