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To Whom...
        Your sequence of transformations seem reasonable, even if someone would
like to quibble over descriptors like if the stretched rubber band has
elastic or mechanical potential energy (probably either or both). As to the
moving ball, I would suspect most people would say it has gravitational
kinetic energy until it interacts or transforms energy via a body-to body
contact, like when it hits the pole.

Larry Sherer

--On Friday, October 25, 2002, 9:15 AM -0600 Petersons
<bikedoctor@citlink.net> wrote:

> I was wondering about something. We played with the game "Mouse Trap" to
> explore different forms of energy. Mouse Trap has a lot of gravational
> potential energy, i.e. in the 2 metal balls when they are placed up on
> the top of the toy. There is a rubberband that is stretched and this
> would be elastic potential energy. When it is released, a stop sign hits
> a boot and the foot kicks a bucket over which releases the metal ball to
> allow it to roll down a ramp.
>
> Would this energy transfer go like this:?
>
> mechanical energy (stretching the rubberband) -> elastic potential energy
> (when the rubberband is held stretched) -> mechanical energy (when the
> rubberband is released and the stopsign hits the boot and the boot kickes
> the bucket and the ball falls out) -> This small amount of mechanical
> energy released the gravational potential energy in the ball and the ball
> then rolls down the ramp. The ball now has kinetic energy. Does is have
> mechanical energy? Or will it only have mechanical energy when it hits a
> pole?
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Alex Griswold" <agriswold@cfa.harvard.edu>
> To: <channel-talkenergy@learner.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, October 23, 2002 10:29 PM
> Subject: Re: [Channel-talkenergy] Forms of Energy Discussion
>
>
>> On 10/23/02 1:17 PM, "Larry Sherer" <mcoe_lcs@ACCESS-K12.org> wrote:
>>
>>
>> >
>> > In answer to your question about "mechanical"....It is usually used to
>> > describe situations where things are moving, twisted, stretched, bent,
>> > lifted against a force (especially gravity), etc. Mechanical is NOT the
>> > same as "kinetic". Kinetic refers only to an object in motion.
>>
>> Yes, thanks. We might say "'kinetic' is a special case of 'mechanical'"?
>>
>> ---Alex
>>
>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>> Alex Griswold, Senior Producer, Science Media Group
>> Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
>> 60 Garden Street, MS-82, Cambridge, MA 02138
>> V:617-495-7355 F:617-496-7670, Em: agriswold@cfa.harvard.edu
>>
>>
>>
>>
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