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AP Physics 1 / Introductory
Work & Energy
OS-AP-7-TP29 · OpenStax College Physics for AP Courses 2e

Conservative Forces and Potential Energy (Problem 29)

Old-fashioned pocket watches needed to be wound daily so they wouldn’t run down and lose time, due to the friction in the internal components. This required a large number of turns of the winding key, but not much force per turn, and it was possible to overwind and break the watch. How was the energy stored?