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To: coloradan
You fail to grasp the changes of definition as it pertains to the work (bending metal is for your purposes mass in motion). If the referenced work is moving the car, then the car has kinetic energy. If the work to be done is crushing the metal of the car, then the car in motion is the potential energy. At least that's what my Physics 211 instructor and the textbook said, but hey, you are in a parallel universe where simplistic Internet definitions are key.

It's one thing for you to be wrong, it's another for you to cop an attitude about it, "You should have paid more attention in school."

That's really rich given it was in reply to your "elementary school "comment.

Then again, pompous, ignorant people are just the sorts to force their ideas upon others at government gunpoint - and say they're doing it for their own good.

Besides being stupid, that's a completely non sequitur statement.

84 posted on 06/07/2006 2:29:56 PM PDT by SampleMan
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To: SampleMan
You fail to grasp the changes of definition as it pertains to the work (bending metal is for your purposes mass in motion). If the referenced work is moving the car, then the car has kinetic energy. If the work to be done is crushing the metal of the car, then the car in motion is the potential energy. At least that's what my Physics 211 instructor and the textbook said, but hey, you are in a parallel universe where simplistic Internet definitions are key.

You're digging yourself even deeper, LOL! I suggest you stop soon. Energy which has the "potential" to do harm doesn't make it "potential energy," which has a specific scientific meaning.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica: (Or is that just another random internet source to you?)

Potential Energy:

Energy stored by an object by virtue of its position.

For example, an object raised above the ground acquires potential energy equal to the work done against the force of gravity; the energy is released as kinetic energy when it falls back to the ground. Similarly, a stretched spring has stored potential energy that is released when the spring is returned to its unstretched state. Other forms of potential energy include electrical potential energy, chemical energy, and nuclear energy. source

Kinetic Energy

Form of energy that an object has by reason of its motion.

The kind of motion may be translation (motion along a path from one place to another), rotation about an axis, vibration, or any combination of motions. The total kinetic energy of a body or system is equal to the sum of the kinetic energies resulting from each type of motion. The kinetic energy of an object depends on its mass and velocity. For instance, the amount of kinetic energy KE of an object in translational motion is equal to one-half the product of its mass m and the square of its velocity v, or KE = 1/2mv2, provided the speed is low relative to the speed of light. At higher speeds, relativity changes the relationship. source

That's really rich given it was in reply to your "elementary school "comment.

I don't know about you, but I learned the difference between potential energy and kinetic energy before high school. Come to think of it, I guess you still haven't learned it - and the way things are going, you might never.

[Then again, pompous, ignorant people are just the sorts to force their ideas upon others at government gunpoint - and say they're doing it for their own good.] Besides being stupid, that's a completely non sequitur statement.

Not at all - you are simply mistaken about "potential energy" (ignorant) but you won't admit it (pompous), and yet you want to control the way others lead their lives. It couldn't be more apropos.

120 posted on 06/09/2006 6:10:36 AM PDT by coloradan (Failing to protect the liberties of your enemies establishes precedents that will reach to yourself.)
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