Kinetic Energy Calculator

The Kinetic energy calculator allows you to calculate kinetic energy by entering mass and velocity in varying units. The kinetic energy calculator is provided in support of the Physics tutorial: Kinetic Energy.

What is Kinetic Energy?

By definition, Kinetic Energy (KE) is the energy possessed by a moving object. It is measured in Joules [J]. In the SI system of units, we have:

(Remember that 1N = 1kg × m / s2 in the SI system of units)

Since [kg] is the unit of mass (m) and [m/s] is the unit of velocity (v), and given that in the SI unit of energy shown above we have [m2 / s2], this means that the velocity is at power 2 in the equation of Kinetic Energy. Thus, we have:

The sign (~) is a symbol of proportionality between the quantity shown in the left side of an expression (here, KE) and those in the right side (here the product of mass and the square of velocity of the moving object). From Mathematics, we know that a proportion can be converted into equality by multiplying one of the sides of the expression by a constant. In the specific case, this constant is equal to 1/2. For more info on how the value of this constant is obtained, please look at the article "Kinetic Energy".

How to use the calculator?

The Kinetic Energy Calculator calculates kinetic energy based on the following selections and inputs:

• Choose a Calculation: In the option "Choose a Calculation", you can switch between the three options for calculating kinetic energy
• KE (Kinetic Energy): Used to enter the Mass of the Object
• M (Mass): Used to enter the Mass of the Object
• V (Velocity): Used to enter the Velocity of the object

Note: as a minimum,

• Mass and Velocity are required to calculate kinetic energy
• Kinetic Energy and Velocity are required to calculate Mass
• Kinetic Energy and Mass are required to calculate Velocity

Example of how to calculate kinetic energy using the Kinetic Energy Calculator

Let's find the velocity for example. We can also switch between a variety of units from the unit boxes on the right. In this example, we have chosen to use the SI units for each quantity ([J] for Kinetic Energy, [kg] for Mass and [m/s] for Velocity. The values chosen in this example are m = 2 kg and KE = 144 J.

• In the "Choose a Calculation Field", select "Calculate v"
• In the Kinetic Energy input, enter 144, units, select J
• In the Mass input, enter 2, units, select kg
• In the volume setting, select m/s as the answer units

The result (v = 12 m/s) will appear in the answer box at bottom (Kinetic Energy Calculator Results) immediately after clicking on the results box as shown below.

In this way, you can benefit from the flexibility this calculator offers. The result can be written in 17 digits at maximum when it is not a whole number. Thus, if we insert the value 143 J in the KE box, we will obtain the following result for the velocity:

As you can see, the calculator provides a very high level of accuracy when finding the result.