What Are Examples of Stored Energy?

Electrical energy and gravitational potential energy are two examples of stored energy. Energy can be stored or transferred. Energy that moves between or among places is referred to as kinetic energy, while energy that accumulates in single sources is called stored energy or potential energy.

In objects that produce stored energy, such as light bulbs, lamps and rocks, several factors influence the duration of time that energy accumulates and the method by which it is released. Electrical energy is potential energy that is contained within batteries and filaments. These items store chemical energy, which builds as electrical energy and travels through wires via moving charges. Electrical energy, upon building and generating potential momentum, is ultimately transferred to surrounding areas, such as light bulbs and outlets, in the forms of light energy and thermal (heat) energy.

Gravitational potential energy occurs naturally in rocks and minerals. Rocks on mountains, for instance, store energy due to their positions above the ground and the pull of gravity. Generally, the larger rocks are and the higher they are from the surface of the earth, the greater stored energy they have. In rocks, stored energy refers to the theoretical amount of energy that rocks would release if they fell. When rocks hit the ground, gravitational potential energy is scattered as kinetic energy.

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