Question

What are the two forms of mechanical energy?

Answer 1

Hint: Mechanical energy is known as the energy acquired due to the position or motion (work done) of an object. The conservation law of energy is followed by mechanical energy. Energy can only be transferred from one form to another according to the law; it cannot be created or destroyed. It is the macroscopic energy that a system is associated with.

Complete answer:
Mechanical energy is the sum of the potential energy and kinetic energy of the object. It is a scalar quantity. Potential energy is also known as stored energy.
Mathematically;
$E=E_{P}+E_{k}$
Where,
$E_{p}$ is potential energy
$E_{k}$ is the kinetic energy
The two kinds of mechanical energy, therefore, constitute the total energy that an object possesses. One is the energy stored (potential energy) and another is the energy of motion (kinetic energy) using which an object performs.
Potential energy:
Energy stored by an object which is not used in performing any physical activity is known as potential energy. Potential energy is highly dependent upon the mass of the object and at what height the object is placed concerning the ground.
Mathematically,
$E_{P}=m g h$
Where,
$m$ is the mass
$g$ is the acceleration due to gravity
$h$ is the height at which the object is placed from the reference point (ground)
Kinetic energy:
The energy which is used by an object to perform work is known as kinetic energy. It is dependent on the mass of the object as well as the velocity of the object by which it is performing the work.
Mathematically, $E_{k}=\dfrac{1}{2} m v^{2}$
Where,
$v$ is the velocity with which the object is moving.
\[\therefore \] There are two forms of mechanical energy

Note:
A sudden interaction of two objects or an object's compression causes the value of energy to change. A collision in the language of physics is called this kind of interaction. Sometimes a small fraction of energy is converted to energy loss (heat) when energy is converted from potential to kinetic energy, which increases the system's temperature.