Question

What is the potential energy of an object with a mass of `"3 kg"` at a height of `"10 m"`?

Answer 1

`"PE"_"grav"="300 Joules"`

Explanation:

Potential energy due to gravity is the energy possessed by a body due to its vertical position (height). The equation for determining potential energy due to gravity is `"PE"_"grav"=mxxgxxh"`, where `m` is mass in kg, `g` is the acceleration due to gravity, and `h` is the vertical position (height) in meters.

Given/Known
`m="3 kg"`
`g="9.81 m/s"^2"`
`h="10 m"`

Unknown
`"PE"_"grav"`

Solution
Substitute the given and known values into the equation.

`"PE"_"grav"=mxxgxxh"`

`"PE"_"grav"=3"kg"xx9.81"m/s"^2xx10"m"`

`"PE"_"grav" =300"kg·m"^2/"s"^2"="300"N·m"="300 Joules"` (rounded to one significant figure)