Kinetic Energy
Energy due to motion of a mass (m). In terms of Newtonian mechanics, which applies when velocities (v) are well below the speed of light, KE = 1/2 m v2. For an ensamble of a very large number of particles in a gas or plasma their average kinetic energy is a statistical measure of the absolute temperature (K).
Compare with
potential energy .The
energy an object possesses by virtue of its motion. An object of mass
m moving at velocity
v has a kinetic energy of ½mv
2.