KINETIC AND POTENTIAL ENERGY WORKSHEET-ANSWERS-1yx79i9.pdf ... - Free Printable

Let’s go step by step to fill in all the blanks correctly. We’ll use basic physics ideas about energy — especially conservation, transfer, and transformation — and apply them to roller coasters.

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Law of Conservation of Energy

- Energy can be neither created nor destroyed by ordinary means.
→ This is the core idea: energy doesn’t just appear or vanish.

- Energy can be transformed from one form to another.
→ Like turning electrical energy into light (in a bulb) or chemical energy into motion (in your body).

- The total amount of energy is the same before and after any energy transformation.
→ Total energy stays constant — it just changes forms.

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Energy Transfer

- Energy TRANSFER is the movement of energy from one object to another object.
→ Example: when you touch something hot, heat moves from it to your hand.

- Example: A cup of hot tea has thermal energy. Some of this thermal energy is transferred to the particles in cold milk, in which you put to make the coffee cooler.
→ Heat flows from hot tea → cold milk until they’re closer in temperature.

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Energy Transformation

- Single Transformations
- Occur when one form of energy needs to be changed into another to get work done.
→ Example: battery (chemical) → flashlight (light + heat)

- Multiple Transformations
- Occur when a series of energy transformations are needed to do work
→ Example: food (chemical) → muscles (kinetic) → moving a bike (mechanical)

- An object’s energy can be:
- As velocity increases, kinetic energy increases and potential energy decreases
- As velocity decreases, kinetic energy decreases and potential energy increases
→ Think of a ball thrown up: slows down as it goes up (KE ↓, PE ↑), speeds up falling down (KE ↑, PE ↓)

- WHAT IS THE TYPE OF RELATIONSHIP KE AND PE HAVE?
→ Inverse relationship — when one goes up, the other usually goes down (if no outside forces like friction).

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Roller Coasters – Does energy get transferred or transformed?

- As you move up to the first hill on a roller coaster the distance between the coaster and the Earth increases, resulting in an increase of gravitational potential energy (GPE)
→ Higher = more stored energy due to gravity.

- At the top of the first hill you have the maximum Gravitational Potential Energy
→ You’re at the highest point → most GPE.

- As you begin your trip down the hill you gain your speed resulting in a transformation from GPE to kinetic energy (KE)
→ Falling converts height-energy into motion-energy.

- At the bottom of the hill right before it goes back upward the kinetic energy is maximum, but the potential energy is minimum
→ Fastest speed = max KE; lowest height = min GPE.

- As it starts to move up the next hill or loop KE is transformed back into GPE
→ Slowing down as you climb → motion turns back into height-energy.

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Final Answer:

Law of Conservation of Energy
- created nor destroyed
- transformed
- energy, same

Energy Transfer
- movement of energy
- thermal, transferred

Energy Transformation
- one, energy, changed
- series
- increases, increases, decreases
- decreases, decreases, increases
- Inverse relationship

Roller Coasters
- increases, gravitational potential energy (GPE)
- maximum
- gain, GPE to kinetic energy (KE)
- kinetic energy is maximum, potential energy is minimum
- transformed