A property of an object or a system is a quality or trait belonging to the

system. A volleyballs mass, volume, weight, diameter, color, speed, and

height above the floor are all properties of the volleyball. Energy is also a
property. Energy is the property that enables something to do work.
For example, a moving volleyball has energy. Energy of motion is called
kinetic energy. A volleyballs kinetic energy enables the ball to do work
when it strikes a net and forces the net to deform.
Objects can also have energy because of their position. This type of energy is
called potential energy. When a volleyball is tossed up prior to a serve, its
higher position in the Earths gravitational field gives the ball the ability to
do work when it falls to a lower position. This property is gravitational
potential energy. When a volleyball flies into the net, the deformed, stretched
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net gains elastic potential energy. This gives the net the ability to do work on
the ball, stopping its motion and forcing it to move in the opposite direction.
Work, kinetic energy, and potential energy are closely related. When the
volleyball flies into the net, some of its kinetic energy is converted into
potential energy. The amount of energy converted equals the work done on
the ball by the force of the net. When the net forces the ball to move in the
opposite direction, some of the stored potential energy is converted into
work. If there were no friction, the amount of potential energy lost by the net
would equal the amount of work done on the ball.
Potential energy can also be stored in electrical devices called capacitors and
inductors. In a capacitor, energy is stored in an electric field. In an inductor,
energy is stored in a magnetic field. In both devices, the amount of energy
stored equals the work done in creating the fields.
The internal energy of a system is the sum of the microscopic kinetic and
potential energies of all the atoms and molecules that make up the system.
Internal energy is useful in solving problems in thermal systems, such as
refrigerators and engines. We will be concerned mostly with changes in
internal energy. For example, the internal energy of the working fluid of a
refrigerator changes when work is done on the fluid (as in the refrigerators
compressor) and when heat is transferred to the fluid (as in the refrigerators
evaporator).
A systems total energy is the sum of its kinetic, potential, and internal
energies. The total energy of an isolated system never changes. (An isolated
system is one in which no mass, work, or energy is allowed to enter or
leave.) This is called the law of conservation of energy, and it is one of the
most important and useful concepts in physics.