Potential energy is the energy of an object that is not in motion. With our free calculator, you can easily calculate it, using the standard formula.

Potential energy is the energy of an object that is not in motion. Similar to kinetic energy, it can also be defined as the amount of work needed to lift an object to its height h. It can come from an object’s position in relation to other objects around it, stresses within the object and other factors. The official SI unit for it is J (joules).

William Rankine, a 19th century physicist and engineer, introduced the term we know today. However, the origin of the word dates back to Aristotle’s concept of potentiality. Potentiality and actuality are, in philosophy, two concepts used to analyze motion, causality, ethics and physiology.

Potential energy is closely linked to conservative forces. Conservative forces act on a body in such a way that all the work done by them depends on the starting and finishing positions of the body.