Ball A was carried to the top of a hill in a straight line, while ball B was carried in a longer, zigzag path. At the top of the hill, both balls were left at rest. A student draws a graph that depicts each ball's final potential energy. Which statement describes the final potential energy of the balls?(1 point)

Question

Ball A was carried to the top of a hill in a straight line, while ball B was carried in a longer, zigzag path. At the top of the hill, both balls were left at rest. A student draws a graph that depicts each ball's final potential energy. Which statement describes the final potential energy of the balls?(1 point)
Responses

Neither ball has any potential energy.
Neither ball has any potential energy.

Ball B has more potential energy.
Ball B has more potential energy.

Ball A has more potential energy.
Ball A has more potential energy.

Both balls have equal potential energy.

GPT-4o mini · Answer

The correct statement is: **Both balls have equal potential energy.** The potential energy of an object depends solely on its height above a reference point (usually the ground) and its mass, not the path taken to reach that height. Since both ball A and ball B are at the same height at the top of the hill, they have the same potential energy.