Skip to Content Skip to Header Navigation

Mission WE7 Mechanical Energy Conservation

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Hold down the T key for 3 seconds to activate the audio accessibility mode, at which point you can click the K key to pause and resume audio. Useful for the Check Your Understanding and See Answers.

 The Question

If the only forces doing work upon an object are conservative (or internal) forces, then the total mechanical energy of the object will ____. If the only forces doing work upon an object are non-conservative (or external) forces, then the total mechanical energy of the object will ____.

 Define Help

Definition of Conservative Force:
All the different types of forces that could do work upon an object can be categorized as either conservative or non-conservative forces. A conservative force is a type of force that serves to transform an object's energy between kinetic and potential. When only conservative forces do work upon an object, the energy of the object changes forms (KE to PE or vice versa) without changing the total amount of mechanical energy.

 Define Help

Definition of Non-conservative Force:
All the different types of forces that could do work upon an object can be categorized as either conservative or non-conservative forces. A non-conservative force is a type of force that changes the total amount of mechanical energy possessed by an object. When non-conservative forces do work upon an object, the total amount of mechanical energy changes.

Return to Screen Reader Navigation