since velocity is always based on a frame of reference, can I just change my frame of reference to have different amounts of kinetic energy? Where does that energy come from?
In: Physics
Sure, but for that amount of kinetic energy to be meaningful, the frame of reference has to be something meaningful.
Kinetic and potential energy are just accounting tricks, to show what *could* happen if two objects interact.
Two racecars on a track are moving at 199mph and 200mph. If they bump each other, there isn’t much of an impact, because the kinetic energy between the two of them is very low. But if one hits the wall of the track, it’ll be a huge collision, because the kinetic energy difference between the car and the wall is huge.
So you, sitting in your chair, have ludicrous amounts of kinetic energy if you consider that you’re on the Earth, and the Earth is hurtling through space at thousands of miles per hour. But that’s only a meaningful number if you want to talk about what’d happen if you collided with an asteroid or something. For the purposes of your daily life, your kinetic energy is very low, because you’re just sitting in a chair. If you collide with something, it’ll only be a low-energy collision.
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