0 the energy stored by something because of its position (as when an object is raised), because of its condition (as when something is pulled or pushed out of shape), or in chemical form (as in fuel or an electric battery) --
1 the energy stored by something because of its position compared with other objects, its condition, or its electrical charge --
The assumption that the energy loss along the stagnating streamline is equal to the change in potential energy along the streamline cannot be justified rigorously.
This process does not in general generate a state with globally minimized potential energy.
As the flow decays under viscous influences, fluid particles have less kinetic energy to exchange for potential energy in their vertical motions.
It knows how to evaluate its potential energy and it can evaluate the potential energy of its neighbours, for a given move.
In any case, the system has to find the right space conformation, a conformation for this molecule that minimizes its global potential energy.
The strong jets observed in this study most likely have their origin in the conversion of potential energy to vertical kinetic energy.
However, in principle, gravitational potential energy could be handled in the same fashion as springs.
Tunneling occurs because the nuclear wavefunctions have finite dimensions that spread beyond the confines of the classical potential energy curves.
