Different types of potential energy
Potential energy can be found in lots of different places, even places you wouldn't normally think of. For instance, when you take a spring and stretch it very far out, you are putting potential energy into the spring. As soon as you let go of the end it snaps back towards where it originally was (turning into kinetic energy!). Potential energy is also put into the spring when you compress the two ends towards each other. As soon as you let go it moves towards where it originally was.
Potential energy is also present when you have two things of opposite charge. This is why something with a positive charge and something with a negative charge are attracted to each other. You're thinking that you've never really seen something like this, but you have! This is what happens when you get static electricity. You walk along the carpet with your socks on and suddenly you find that every piece of cat hair in the room is sticking to you! The hair is sticking to you because of the difference in charges between you and the hair.
Another type of potential energy is gravitational energy. This is what holds the earth in orbit around the sun, and the moon around the earth, and you to the earth. Without this you'd go flying off into space.
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Energy Went...
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