Potential Energy

Notes: THIS LESSON REQUIRES NO SPECIAL MATERIALS — JUST BOOKS TO BALANCE. The lesson explores the energy of position: potential energy.

Student are challenged to prevent stored potential energy from abruptly being transformed into kinetic energy. They use a skate-board-park simulation to investigate how these two forms of mechanical energy interrelate.

With the simulation students discover the first law of thermodynamics: energy cannot be created or destroyed.