How does energy change as objects move?

Answer 1

Moving objects do not change, in general, the energy of the system. It depends, of course, of the different energies which are related with the problem.

Suppose that we only have kinetic energy. If the velocity of an object is constant, the total energy is then constant too. Only if there is a change in the velocity we have a change in the energy.

Potential energies depends on the exact form of them. For elastic forces, for example, there is a change of the total energy with the position across the expression U = kx2. But there are other ones which do not depend on the position, so they do not change total energy.

When objects are at rest their kinetic energy is zero while their potential energy is maximum.As they start moving their potential energy is converted into kinetic energy at every moment during motion. Just before coming to rest again their kinetic energy is maximum and potential energy is zero.This process continues like this.

Answer 2

As objects move, energy can change between different forms: kinetic energy (energy of motion) increases as objects speed up or decreases as they slow down, potential energy (stored energy) can change as an object moves higher or lower in a gravitational field, and energy can also be converted between different forms, such as mechanical energy, thermal energy, or sound energy.