Enter the total potential energy (J) and the mass of the object (kg) into the calculator to determine the Velocity from Potential Energy. 

Velocity from Potential Energy Formula

The following equation is used to calculate the Velocity from Potential Energy. 

V = SQRT (PE*2 / m)

Variables:

  • Where V is the Velocity from Potential Energy (m/s)
  • PE is the total potential energy (J) 
  • m is the mass of the object (kg) 

To calculate the velocity from potential energy, multiply the potential energy by 2, divide by the mass, then finally, take the square root of the result.

How to Calculate Velocity from Potential Energy?

The following two example problems outline the steps and information needed in order to calculate the Velocity from Potential Energy.

Example Problem #1:

  1. First, determine the total potential energy (J). In this example, the total potential energy (J) is measured to be 50.
  2. Next, determine the mass of the object (kg). For this problem, the mass of the object (kg) is calculated to be 4.
  3. Finally, calculate the Velocity from Potential Energy using the formula above: 

V = SQRT (PE*2 / m)

Inserting the values from above and solving the equation with the imputed values gives: 

V = SQRT (50*2 / 4) = 5 (m/s)

Example Problem #2: 

Using the same process as example problem 1, we first define the needed variables outlined by the formula. In this case, the values are provide as: 

total potential energy (J) = 20

mass of the object (kg) = 3

Entering these values into the formula or calculator above gives us: 

V = SQRT (30*2 / 3) = 4.472 (m/s`)