Escapement escapement was used for a washstand design in ancient Greece and the Hellenistic world, particularly Ptolemaic Egypt, while liquid-driven escapements were applied to clockworks beginning in Tang dynasty China and culminating during the Song dynasty. However, the fully mechanical escapement in mechanical clocks was first invented in medieval Europe during the 14th century. The importance of the escapement in the history of technology is that it was the key invention that made the all-mechanical clock possible. The invention of the first all-mechanical escapement, the verge escapement, in 13th-century Europe initiated a change in timekeeping methods from continuous processes, such as
Mechanical energy Mechanical energy In physical sciences, mechanical energy is the sum of potential energy and kinetic energy. It is the energy associated with the motion and position of an object. The principle of conservation of mechanical energy states that in an isolated system that is only subject to conservative forces, the mechanical energy is constant. If an object is moved in the opposite direction of a conservative net force, the potential energy will increase and if the speed (not the velocity) of the object is changed, the kinetic energy of the object is changed as well. In all real systems, however,