What type of energy describes the potential to do work within a stored system?

The correct choice highlights the concept of potential energy, which is defined as the energy stored within a system due to its position or configuration. This energy has the potential to be converted into kinetic energy, which is energy of motion, enabling the system to perform work when released or transformed.

Potential energy can take various forms, such as gravitational potential energy, which depends on the height of an object above a reference point, or elastic potential energy, found in stretched or compressed materials like springs. It is intrinsic to the arrangement of parts within a system, meaning that even when an object is at rest, it still possesses energy due to its position.

In contrast, kinetic energy relates to the energy of moving objects, thermal energy pertains to the energy associated with the temperature of a system, and chemical energy involves the potential energy stored in the chemical bonds of molecules. None of these other types of energy directly refer to the stored energy potential described in the question.