Escapement The independent watchmaker, De Bethune, has developed a concept where a magnet makes a resonator vibrate at high frequency, replacing the traditional balance spring. In the late 19th century, electromechanical escapements were developed for pendulum clocks. In these, a switch or phototube energised an electromagnet for a brief section of the pendulum's swing. On some clocks the pulse of electricity that drove the pendulum also drove a plunger to move the gear train. In 1843 Matthäus Hipp first mentioned a purely mechanical clock being driven by a switch called "echappement à palette". A varied version of that escapement has been
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,