Lesson 6:

Mechanical Energy
What is mechanical energy?
Mechanical energy is energy of
motion. It is energy that an object has
because of its motion or position.
Discovery Education Video:
Lord of the Slings

Describes a massive trebuchet that is

strong enough to throw multiple cars at
one time
Mechanical Energy is often created
using other forms of energy.
 Discovery Education Video:
States of Matter: Dry Ice

Jeff and Matt demonstrate the explosive power of dry

ice. As the frozen carbon dioxide changes from a solid
to a gas, the gaseous CO2 expands to fill up its
container.
 Discovery Education Video:
Liquid Nitrogen: States of Matter

The program presents the properties of nitrogen in both its liquid

and gaseous states. As a liquid, nitrogen is able to freeze almost
any object. The team films the changes that occur to normally
flexible objects after being submerged in liquid nitrogen and
dropped onto the laboratory table. Additionally, the team
experiments with what happens to liquid nitrogen in a sealed
bottle as it warms up to room temperature and becomes a gas.
 Our bodies use stored chemical
energy from the food that we eat to
allow us to move.
Calories from food are stored in our
bodies until they are used as
mechanical energy.
 Mechanical Energy: Key Questions

1. What is mechanical energy?

2. How does our body generate mechanical

energy?

3. Give three examples of mechanical

energy, and explain how this energy is
generated in each example.