Escapement techniques used escapements, but these have only the name in common. The Chinese one worked intermittently; the European, in discrete but continuous beats. Both systems used gravity as the prime mover, but the action was very different. In the mechanical clock, the falling weight exerted a continuous and even force on the train, which the escapement alternately held back and released at a rhythm constrained by the controller. Ingeniously, the very force that turned the scape wheel then slowed it and pushed it part of the way back... In other words, a unidirectional force produced a self-reversing action—about one step
Mechanical energy mechanical energy of the colliding objects has been converted into an equal amount of heat. Thus, the total energy of the system remains unchanged though the mechanical energy of the system has reduced. A satellite of mass formula_4 at a distance formula_5 from the centre of Earth possesses both kinetic energy, formula_6, (by virtue of its motion) and gravitational potential energy, formula_7, (by virtue of its position within the Earth’s gravitational field; Earth's mass is formula_8). Hence, mechanical energy formula_9 of a satellite is given by If the satellite is in circular orbit, the energy conservation equation can be further