A book is at rest on a flat table. A person gives the book a shove, and it slides across the table. The book eventually comes to rest again near the edge of the table. How does the potential and kinetic energy change during this process
When the book is at rest on the flat table, it has potential energy due to its position above the ground. This potential energy is typically in the form of gravitational potential energy. However, in this case, since the book is on a table, we can assume that the table is at a constant height above the ground, so the gravitational potential energy does not change.
When the person gives the book a shove and it starts sliding, it gains kinetic energy. Kinetic energy is the energy possessed by an object in motion. As the book accelerates across the table, its kinetic energy increases.
As the book slides and eventually comes to rest near the edge of the table, its kinetic energy decreases because it's slowing down. At the same time, the potential energy remains constant since the height of the book above the ground has not changed.
Therefore, during this process, the potential energy of the book remains constant, while the kinetic energy initially increases and then decreases.