A Dictionary of Astronomy | 1997 |published by Oxford
kinetic energy The energy possessed by a body by virtue of its motion in space. It is equivalent to the work that would be done if the moving body were brought to rest. When the speed of a body is much less than the speed of light, kinetic energy is equal to ½mv2, where m is the mass of the body and v is its velocity. A rotating body has kinetic energy ½I ω2, where I is its moment of inertia and ω is its angular velocity.
