There are many different kinds of potential energy.  We’ve already worked with gravitational potential energy, so let’s take a look at elastic potential energy.

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Materials: a rubber band

A simple way to demonstrate elastic energy is to stretch a rubber band without releasing it.  The stretch in the rubber band is your potential energy. When you let go of the rubber band, you are releasing the potential energy, and when you aim it toward a wall, it’s converted into motion (kinetic energy).

Here’s another fun example:  the rubber band can also show how every is converted from one form to another.  If you place the rubber band against a part of you that is sensitive to temperature changes (like a cheek or upper lip), you can sense when the band heats up.  Simply stretch and release the rubber band over and over, testing the temperature as you go. Does it feel warmer in certain spots, or in just one location?

Click here to go to next lesson on Energy Transforms.

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