Question

Which has more mechanical energy, a box on the top shelf of a closet or a box of equal mass on the floor?

The box on the floor has more mechanical energy because work has been done on it.

The box on the shelf has more mechanical energy because it is higher above Earth's surface.

They have the same mechanical energy.

There is not enough information to know.

Answer 1

The box on the shelf has more mechanical energy because it is higher above Earth's surface.

Reason: mechanical energy = kinetic + potential. Both boxes are at rest (same kinetic energy), but the shelf box has greater gravitational potential energy (mgh with larger h), so its total mechanical energy is larger.