# Difference between kinetic and potential energy – physics

We already have learned the concepts of mechanical energy in another article. There are two types of mechanical energy – Kinetic energy and potential energy. Kinetic energy also has two types – translational kinetic energy and rotational kinetic energy. Read the article on rotational kinetic energy if you need. In this article, we are going to know the basic difference between kinetic and potential energy on an object. This explanation will be easy to understand even for a kid.

## Kinetic energy

The mechanical energy of an object due to its motion is the kinetic energy of the object. An object posses kinetic energy due to its motion only. There is no other way to generate the kinetic energy in a body. Suppose an object of mass m is moving with a velocity v, then the kinetic energy of the object will be $\small {\color{Blue} K.E. = \frac{1}{2}mv^{2}}$.

## Potential energy

The potential energy of an object is due to its position above the ground level. Thus, a body will have potential energy in it only if the body is raised to some height above the ground. If an object of mass m has its position at a height h above the ground, then its potential energy will be P.E. = mgh.

## Similarities between kinetic energy and potential energy

The comparison between kinetic energy and potential energy includes both the similarities and differences between kinetic and potential energy. In this section we are to discuss the similarities between these types of energies.

1. Both the kinetic energy and potential energy have same units and dimension as that of the mechanical energy.
2. These two types of energies are directly proportional to the mass of the object. One can see this thing from their equations.
3. The K.E. of an object can be converted into its potential energy and vice-versa.

## What is the difference between kinetic and potential energy?

Now, what are the differences between kinetic energy and potential energy of an object? See the differences in tabular form.

This is all from this article on the difference between K.E. and P.E. If you have any doubt on this topic you can ask me in the comment section.

Thank you!

Related posts:

1. Kinetic energy
2. Potential energy
3. Rotational kinetic energy
4. Work done by a force