Question

Which factor affects elastic potential energy but not gravitational potential energy?

Answer 1

Which factor affects elastic potential energy but not gravitational potential energy? A ).spring constant

Answer 2

Answer:

spring constant

Explanation:

The elastic potential energy is given by:

$U=\frac{1}{2}kx^2$

where

k is the spring constant

x is the compression/stretching of the spring

Therefore, from the formula we see that the elastic potential energy is affected only by k (the spring constant) and x (the distance from the equilibrium position of the spring).

On the contrary, gravitational potential energy is given by:

$U=mgh$

where

m is the mass of the object

g is the gravitational acceleration

h is the height of the object relative to a certain position

So, we see that gravitational potential energy depends on:

- acceleration due to gravity  (g)

- distance from a given position  (h)

- amount of matter in the object (the mass, m)

Therefore, the only factor that affects only elastic potential energy but not gravitational potential energy is the spring constant.