Definitely no moss gathered.

[snico]

Kinetic energy is the work required to accelerate an object to a given speed.

no it's not, kinetic energy is the energy an object that is moving has..

if it's already hurtling through space at 5000 miles a second then even with no accelleration from the moon's gravity, it will still impact at 5000 miles a second..

nope. read and learn.

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/ke.html[/QUOTE]

You are both very close with your description, kinetic energy has nothing to do with the initial moving of an object.

If something is stationary, eg a brick on the floor it has potential energy which is the opposite of kinetic energy. Now if i was to pick that brick up and throw it, the potential energy would turn into kinetic energy. Anything that moves will have kinetic energy, whether it is vibration kinetic, rotation kinetic, or translational kinetic.

Basically, kinetic energy is the energy of motion, of something moving

its also the work required to accelerate or decelerate an object. If you have kinetic energy, any change in your velocity requires you to do work or exert work. It hurts when you step in front of a moving bus because the kinetic energy of the bus does work on you as it slows down and you accelerate from zero. So technically, its a measure of the work required to change velocity. The kinetic energy arise as a consequence of the net work done on the object. In this case its called Translational Kinetic Energy, as opposed to Rotational Kinetic Energy.

KE = 1/2 MV^2

go read the damn link.

Basically, kinetic energy is the energy of motion, of something moving