Glossary · term

Potential energy

Mechanics

Domain
Mechanics

Definition

Energy stored by position or configuration and recoverable as motion: a raised weight, a stretched spring, water behind a dam, a satellite in a high orbit. Kinetic and potential trade back and forth; without friction their sum is fixed.

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From the Glossary database in Notion, last edited 2026-08-18. This page is the row, rendered by the build; nothing on it is written by hand.