between the energy of an object in a given position and its energy at a reference position.

History

From around 1840 scientists sought to define and understand energy and work.The term "potential energy" was coined by William Rankine, a Scottish engineer and physicist, in 1853 as part of a specific effort to develop terminology. He chose the term as part of the pair "actual" vs "potential" going back to work by Aristotle.

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