Question

The water stored in an overhead tank possesses ___________ energy.

Answer 1

Hint: The water is at a position from where it will want to flow downwards. Work must have been done on water against the force of gravity to store the water at a height in a tank. The energy stored in a body due to its position in a force field will be the kind of energy stored in water.

Complete step-by-step answer:
The water in the overhead tank tends to fall down due to the virtue of its weight. Which is the force applied on the water stored due to the gravitational force of attraction between the water and the earth. This energy that the water possesses is due to its position in the gravitational force field of earth. As we know that the energy possessed by some body due to its position in a force field is known as the potential energy. The energy stored here in water, therefore, must be the gravitational potential energy or commonly called as potential energy. Hence, the correct answer will be the water stored in an overhead tank possesses potential energy.

Additional Information: The potential energy stored in the water was used in old times and is still used today to get water in our taps from tanks kept on the roof of our houses. Before the invention of water pumps. This was used to run fountains by letting water fall from a height which would convert the stored potential energy into kinetic energy and then make the water squirt out of a hole in a fountain.

Note: Gravitational potential energy is not the only kind of potential energy. Potential energy can be stored in any object by making it work against some force. We have potential energy in springs, magnetic potential energy when we bring magnets closer and electrical potential energy.