Question

Typed please. If energy is always conserved, what happens to the energy of a piece of clay when you drop it and it sticks on the ground? Before being dropped, due to its proximity above the ground, what type of energy does the clay have? After being dropped, what type of energy is the initial energy changing into? After it sticks, where has the energy gone?

Answer 1

Before being dropped the clay, energy in the clay is in the form of potential energy. After being dropped, this energy converted into kinetic energy. When clay sticks to the ground, this is an inelastic collision between clay and ground. According to the inelastic collision, both ( clay + ground ) should move together. But clay becomes in rest with the ground due to a very high mass of earth. In inelastic collision energy wasted in the form of heat. So here kinetic energy converted into heat.