
Originally Posted by
Tau Neutrino
I know this may sound like a really low profile question, but it's been annoying me for quite some time.
I just saw an episode of the Universe (I know, it's very rudimentary, but its entertaining) where they talk about potential energy. I'm new to physics and have not yet explored kinetic/potential energy. My question is this:
In the episode, they talked about the farther an object gets away from Earth (within its gravitational pull), the more potential energy it has due to gravity. If I were to toss a rock 50 feet up, it should be gaining potential energy on the way up. But if it were to land on something, say a roof, then where does all the potential energy go?
As I was typing this out, I kinda realized that the potential energy should still be in the rock, because it's still high off the ground, but I just want to make sure.