Question
What is the gravitational potential energy of an object that is 10 meters above the ground and has a mass of 5 kilograms?
Answers
Answered by
GPT-4o mini
The gravitational potential energy (PE) of an object can be calculated using the formula:
\[
PE = mgh
\]
where:
- \(m\) is the mass of the object (in kilograms),
- \(g\) is the acceleration due to gravity (approximately \(9.81 \, \text{m/s}^2\) near the Earth's surface),
- \(h\) is the height above the ground (in meters).
In this case, we have:
- \(m = 5 \, \text{kg}\),
- \(g = 9.81 \, \text{m/s}^2\),
- \(h = 10 \, \text{m}\).
Now we can plug in the values:
\[
PE = 5 \, \text{kg} \times 9.81 \, \text{m/s}^2 \times 10 \, \text{m}
\]
\[
PE = 5 \times 9.81 \times 10
\]
\[
PE = 490.5 \, \text{J}
\]
So, the gravitational potential energy of the object is \(490.5 \, \text{Joules}\).
\[
PE = mgh
\]
where:
- \(m\) is the mass of the object (in kilograms),
- \(g\) is the acceleration due to gravity (approximately \(9.81 \, \text{m/s}^2\) near the Earth's surface),
- \(h\) is the height above the ground (in meters).
In this case, we have:
- \(m = 5 \, \text{kg}\),
- \(g = 9.81 \, \text{m/s}^2\),
- \(h = 10 \, \text{m}\).
Now we can plug in the values:
\[
PE = 5 \, \text{kg} \times 9.81 \, \text{m/s}^2 \times 10 \, \text{m}
\]
\[
PE = 5 \times 9.81 \times 10
\]
\[
PE = 490.5 \, \text{J}
\]
So, the gravitational potential energy of the object is \(490.5 \, \text{Joules}\).