Consider a book sitting on a table. The book is said to have “potential energy” because if it is nudged off, gravity will accelerate the book, giving the book kinetic energy. Because the Earth’s gravity is necessary to create this kinetic energy, and because this gravity depends on the Earth being present, we say that the “Earth-book system” is what really possesses this potential energy, and that this energy is converted into kinetic energy as the book falls.
