Mechanical Energy: Where Does It Go?

AI Thread Summary
When a pendulum is released from a height, it eventually stops swinging due to energy dissipation. The mechanical energy is primarily lost as heat through air resistance and the flexing of its support. This aligns with the law of conservation of energy, which states that energy must be accounted for, even as it transforms. Friction acts as a non-conservative force, meaning the energy loss is not path-independent and varies based on the pendulum's motion. Ultimately, the energy is transferred to the surrounding environment, explaining the pendulum's eventual stillness.
isyang94
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When a pendulum is let go from an elevated area, it will eventually stop swinging. But if this occurs then where had the mechanical energy gone to?
 
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It's dissipated as heat, mostly from wind resistance, some from the flexing of whatever's holding it up.
 
explain in details please
 
because according to the law of conservation of energy, the gravitational potential energy and the kinetic energy would just stay the same the whole time but it is only slightly dissipated by heat, where else does it all go?
 
You were already given the correct answer.

It's not swinging in a vacuum. The energy is dissipated through friction with the air (drag) while it is in motion and through heat as whatever holds it up is flexed. Like you said, energy must be conserved and HAS to go somewhere. Since the pendulum only interacts with the surrounding environment, then that is where it has gone.

Don't put your own interpretation onto conservation of energy because you're taking an introductory physics class. Friction is a NON-CONSERVATIVE force, meaning that you cannot consider the motion of a pendulum in the real world to be path independant. The path that it travels causes drag, and a reduction of the energy within the pendulum.
 

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