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On a roller coaster, energy changes from potential to kinetic energy and back again many times over the course of a ride. Kinetic energy is energy that an object has as a result of its motion. All moving objects possess kinetic energy, which is determined by the mass and speed of the object. Potential energy is the energy an object has as a result of its position. Potential energy is stored energy that has not yet been released. Gravitational potential energy is potential energy that results from an object's position in a gravitational field, and is equal to the object's weight multiplied by its height. For example, a book placed on a shelf possesses gravitational potential energy because of Earth's gravity.
Kinetic energy is energy possessed by an object in motion. The earth revolving around the sun, you walking down the street, and molecules moving in space all have kinetic energy. Kinetic energy is directly proportional to the mass of the object and to the square of its velocity: K.E. = 1/2 m v2. If the mass has units of kilograms and the velocity of meters per second, the kinetic energy has units of kilograms-meters squared per second squared.