Kinetic Energy, The Energy Of Motion
Kinetic energy can be thought of as the energy associated with the motion of an object and its equivalent to do work. Whenever an object moves, vertical or horizontal, it has kinetic energy.
There are three forms of kinetic energy. Vibrational energy (the energy due to vibration motion), rotational energy (the energy due to rotational motion), and the last one, translational energy, the energy caused by the motion from one location to another. Kinetic energy can be obtained from other forms of energy. Let's take the example of a cyclist to demonstrate this. The cyclist uses the chemical energy obtained from food, to accelerate his bicycle to a chosen velocity. In this case, the energy has been converted into kinetic energy, the energy of motion. Also, this form of energy, could convert to other forms of energy. Let's say that the cyclist encounters a hill, high enough for the bicycle to come to a complete halt at the top. Then, the bicycler converts kinetic energy into gravitational one, just by freewheeling down on the other side of the hill. Also, with the use of a dynamo attached on the bicycle, electrical power can be obtained. And the last form of energy that can be obtained by the bicycler is the heat energy. Whenever he applies the brakes, kinetic energy is dissipated into heat.
A good thing to know is that the amount on kinetic energy depends on the height and the weight of an object. To explain this we take two balls. A small one and a large one are enough to demonstrate this. It is quite simple. If we take a wall and hit it with the two balls, we can easily observe, that the bigger ball uses more energy to move the wall. So, both weight and height of an object influence the amount of energy used. Also, in the example with the two balls, an important role is played by the distance between the balls and the wall.
Because kinetic energy is the energy due to motion, we can say that our body has this form of energy. This is true, and most incredible is that, it has kinetic energy, even when it rests. The atoms and molecules contained in our body are in permanent motion. So, there is some kinetic energy. The average kinetic energy is given by the temperature of our body. So we are in the presence of kinetic energy all the time. Whenever our body moves, of even when it is at rest, there is energy.