Which of the Following Is an Example of Potential Energy?

An example of potential energy is a book resting on a shelf, a stretched rubber band, a charged battery, or water held behind a dam. In each case, energy is stored because of position, shape, or chemical state — not because anything is moving. That single distinction answers most questions asking which of the following is an example of potential energy: if nothing is in motion and energy is waiting to be released, it is potential; if something is actively moving, it is kinetic.

What Potential Energy Means

Potential energy is stored energy an object has because of its position, its condition, or the arrangement of its parts. A ball held above the ground has gravitational potential energy. A compressed spring has elastic potential energy. Gasoline and food contain chemical potential energy locked in the bonds between atoms.

The key word is “stored.” Nothing needs to be happening right now for potential energy to exist. The energy sits quietly, ready to convert into another form — usually motion — the moment the right condition is met. A raised weight does nothing until it is dropped; then its stored energy becomes kinetic energy as it falls. This is why potential energy is sometimes described as energy of position or configuration.

An object’s potential energy often depends on where it sits relative to a reference point. Raise a book higher off the floor and it gains more gravitational potential energy. Compress a spring further and it stores more elastic energy. The deeper the “stretch” from the relaxed state, the more is stored.

Common Examples of Potential Energy

These examples appear most often in quizzes and textbooks, and each one illustrates a slightly different storage mechanism.

• A raised object: A lamp on a high shelf, a roller coaster car paused at the top of a hill, or a rock balanced on a cliff edge all hold gravitational potential energy. Their height above the ground gives them the ability to do work if they fall. Khan Academy notes that gravitational potential energy increases with both mass and height.
• A stretched rubber band: Pull a rubber band and hold it; you have done work on it, and that work is stored as elastic potential energy. Let go and it snaps back, releasing the energy as motion. A drawn bow stores energy the same way.
• A charged battery: A battery holds chemical potential energy. The chemical reactions inside are ready to push electrons through a circuit, but nothing flows until a device is connected and switched on. Once current flows, that stored energy becomes electrical and eventually light or heat.
• Water behind a dam: A reservoir holds a huge mass of water at a high elevation. That is gravitational potential energy on a grand scale. When gates open, the water rushes downhill and spins turbines — the Physics Classroom explains how this stored energy converts into kinetic and then electrical energy in a hydroelectric plant.

A Short Worked Example

Take a 2 kg book sitting on a table 1 meter above the floor. Gravitational potential energy equals mass × gravity × height: 2 kg × 9.8 m/s² × 1 m = 19.6 joules. Lift that same book to 2 meters and the stored energy doubles to 39.2 joules. Nothing is moving, yet the book’s capacity to do work has increased — a clean demonstration that potential energy tracks position, not speed.

Potential vs. Kinetic Energy

The fastest way to tell the two apart is to ask one question: is it moving?

Kinetic energy is the energy of motion — a rolling ball, a sprinting runner, a gust of wind, a flowing river. It depends on both mass and speed. An object at rest has zero kinetic energy by definition, no matter how heavy it is or how high it sits.

Potential energy is the energy of position or condition — objects that are stationary but “loaded” with stored energy. A parked car on a hill has potential energy but no kinetic energy; release the brake and it converts one into the other as it rolls.

This is exactly why a moving object is not a valid answer to a potential-energy question. A car speeding down the highway is kinetic. A skier mid-descent is kinetic. A falling rock is kinetic. Even though each one once had potential energy at the top of its path, at the moment it is in motion its stored energy is being spent.

One useful mental image: potential energy is a stretched bowstring at full draw, and kinetic energy is the arrow after release. The change between them is a conversion, not a coincidence.

Checking Answer Choices

When a multiple-choice question asks for an example of potential energy, run each option through the same quick filter.

1. Ask “is it moving?” If the object is in motion, eliminate it — that is kinetic.
2. Ask “is energy stored because of position or condition?” Height, stretching, compression, chemical bonds, or electric charge all signal stored energy.
3. Look for trigger words. “Held,” “resting,” “stretched,” “charged,” “compressed,” “at the top of,” and “stored” usually point to potential energy. “Rolling,” “falling,” “flying,” “speeding,” and “flowing” point to kinetic.
4. Beware of hybrids. A ball at the top of a ramp is potential; the same ball halfway down is converting to kinetic. Choose the option describing the stationary state.
5. Rule out distractors. Options describing heat, sound, or light — like a glowing bulb or a ringing bell — are neither purely potential nor kinetic in the classic sense and are usually wrong answers here.

Apply the filter to a typical set: “a rolling bowling ball” (kinetic), “a stretched spring” (potential), “a moving train” (kinetic), “a charged battery” (potential). The stationary, stored-energy options win every time.

Key Takeaways

• Potential energy is stored energy based on an object’s position, shape, or chemical state — not its motion.
• Clear examples include a raised object, a stretched rubber band, a charged battery, and water behind a dam.
• Kinetic energy is the energy of motion; anything actively moving is not an example of potential energy.
• Gravitational potential energy rises with mass and height, as in the 2 kg book example (19.6 J at 1 m, 39.2 J at 2 m).
• To pick the right answer, check whether the object is stationary and whether its energy is stored and ready to be released.