Sports
Potential Energy in Sports
Quick fact
A 70 kg pole vaulter at the top of a 6 meter vault stores about 4,100 joules of gravitational potential energy—enough to lift a small car by a few centimeters.
Why this is interesting
Why can a diver tuck their body to spin faster, and a pole vaulter soar higher than their own running speed? The answer lies in a hidden energy bank called potential energy.