Simulation of Energy dissipation in system change using a ball
Energy Dissipation Simulation – “Where Does the Useful Energy Go?”
This interactive physics demonstration shows what really happens to energy in a real-world system — using the everyday example of a bouncing ball.
A brightly colored ball is dropped from a significant height onto a hard surface. At the start, all 100 joules of energy are stored as gravitational potential energy — a very useful form of stored energy that depends only on height and mass.
As the ball falls freely:
- Gravitational potential energy is smoothly converted into kinetic energy — the energy of motion — which reaches its maximum just before impact.
But in every real bounce and during flight, some energy is permanently dissipated (spread out and made less useful):
- Tiny amounts are lost continuously to air resistance (friction with air molecules → thermal energy in the air)
- Much larger amounts are lost at each bounce through deformation of the ball and floor, internal friction, microscopic vibrations, and faint sound → all ultimately becoming low-grade thermal energy (heat) spread across the ball, surface, and surroundings
After several bounces, the ball gradually loses height and speed until it finally comes to rest on the ground. At this point:
- Kinetic energy = 0 J (no motion)
- Almost all of the original 100 J has been converted into dissipated (thermal) energy
- A small residual amount remains as gravitational potential energy (because the ball still has a tiny height above the reference level)
The three energy bars update in real time:
- Blue → Gravitational Potential Energy (useful, concentrated, recoverable in principle)
- Green → Kinetic Energy (useful while the object is moving fast)
- Red → Dissipated / “Wasted” Energy (mostly heat — dispersed, low-grade, very difficult to recover for useful work)
Key scientific message
Energy is always conserved in total (100 J throughout). However, in every real process, some useful energy (potential + kinetic) is irreversibly transformed into less useful, spread-out thermal energy. This is what we mean by energy dissipation — often (imprecisely) called “wasted” energy. It explains why perpetual motion machines are impossible and why real engines, lights, phones, cars, and falling objects always produce heat that we cannot fully get back.
Perfect for teaching:
- Conservation vs. quality of energy
- The second law of thermodynamics in an intuitive way
- Why real systems never return 100% of input energy as useful output
Enjoy dropping the ball again and watching useful energy disappear — bit by bit — into the invisible thermal background of the universe.