Editing Energy (section)

== Forms ==
[[File:Lightning over Oradea Romania zoom.jpg|thumb|In a typical [[lightning]] strike, 500 [[megajoule]]s of [[electric potential energy]] is converted into the same amount of energy in other forms, mostly [[light energy]], [[sound energy]] and [[thermal energy]].]]
[[File:Hot metalwork.jpg|thumb|[[Thermal energy]] is energy of microscopic constituents of matter, which may include both [[kinetic energy|kinetic]] and [[potential energy]].]]

The total energy of a [[system]] can be subdivided and classified into [[potential energy]], [[kinetic energy]], or combinations of the two in various ways. Kinetic energy is determined by the [[motion (physics)|movement]] of an object – or the [[statistical mechanics|composite motion]] of the object's components – while [[potential energy]] reflects the potential of an object to have motion, generally being based upon the object's position within a [[Field (physics)|field]] or what is stored within the field itself.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bobrowsky |first=Matt |title=SCIENCE 101: Q: What Is Energy? |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27133353 |access-date=February 5, 2024 |journal=[[Science and Children]] |date=2021 |volume=59 |issue=1 |pages=61–65 |language=en |doi=10.1080/19434812.2021.12291716 |jstor=27133353 |s2cid=266084433 |issn=0036-8148}}</ref>

While these two categories are sufficient to describe all forms of energy, it is often convenient to refer to particular combinations of potential and kinetic energy as its own form. For example, the sum of translational and [[rotational energy|rotational]] kinetic and potential energy within a system is referred to as [[mechanical energy]], whereas nuclear energy refers to the combined potentials within an atomic nucleus from either the [[nuclear force]] or the [[weak force]], among other examples.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Nuclear Energy {{!}} Definition, Formula & Examples {{!}} nuclear-power.com |url=https://www.nuclear-power.com/nuclear-power/nuclear-energy/ |access-date=2022-07-06 |website=Nuclear Power |language=en-us |archive-date=2022-07-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220706153815/https://www.nuclear-power.com/nuclear-power/nuclear-energy/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
|+Some forms of energy (that an object or system can have as a measurable property)
!scope="col"|Type of energy
!scope="col"|Description
|-
!scope="row"|[[Mechanical energy|Mechanical]]
|the sum of [[macroscopic]] translational and rotational kinetic and potential energies
|-
!scope="row"|[[Electrical energy|Electric]]
|potential energy due to or stored in electric fields
|-
!scope="row"|[[Magnetic energy|Magnetic]]
|potential energy due to or stored in magnetic fields
|-
!scope="row"|[[Gravitational energy|Gravitational]]
|potential energy due to or stored in gravitational fields
|-
!scope="row"|[[Chemical energy|Chemical]]
|potential energy due to chemical bonds
|-
!scope="row"|[[Ionization energy|Ionization]]
|potential energy that [[Binding energy|binds]] an electron to its atom or molecule
|-
!scope="row"|[[Nuclear binding energy|Nuclear]]
|potential energy that [[Binding energy|binds]] [[nucleons]] to form the [[atomic nucleus]] (and nuclear reactions)
|-
!scope="row"|[[Quantum chromodynamics binding energy|Chromodynamic]]
|potential energy that [[Binding energy|binds]] [[quark]]s to form [[hadron]]s
|-
!scope="row"|[[Elastic energy|Elastic]]
|potential energy due to the deformation of a material (or its container) exhibiting a restorative force as it returns to its original shape
|-
!scope="row"|[[Mechanical wave]]
|kinetic and potential energy in an elastic material due to a propagating [[oscillation]] of matter
|-
!scope="row"|[[Sound energy|Sound wave]]
|kinetic and potential energy in a material due to a sound propagated wave (a particular type of mechanical wave)
|-
!scope="row"|[[Radiant energy|Radiant]]
|[[Photon energy|potential energy]] stored in the fields of waves propagated by [[electromagnetic radiation]], including [[light]]
|-
!scope="row"|[[Rest energy|Rest]]
|potential energy [[Mass–energy equivalence|due to]] an object's [[Intrinsic mass|rest mass]]
|-
!scope="row"|[[Heat|Thermal]] 
|kinetic energy of the [[microscopic]] motion of particles, a kind of disordered equivalent of mechanical energy 
|-
|}