Question

The value of gravitational acceleration of a body on Earth is 9.8 meters/second2. The gravitational potential energy for a 1.00 kilogram object is found to be 12.5 joules. How high is this object above the ground level, where PE = 0?

Answer 1

PE = mgh₁ - mgh₂= 12.5J

h₁ = ?
h₂ = 0

h₁ = PE / mg = 12.5 / 9.8

Answer 2

Answer: 1.28 m

Explanation:

the gravitational potential energy of an object is given by

$E=mgh$

where

m is the mass of the object

g is the gravitational acceleration

h is the height of the object with respect to a reference point.

In this problem, m=1.00 kg, g=9.8 m/s^2, and the energy of the object measured with respect to the ground level is E=12.5 J. Therefore, by re-arranging the equation we can calculate h, the height of the object above the ground level:

$h=\frac{E}{mg}=\frac{12.5 J}{(1.00 kg)(9.8 m/s^2)}=1.28 m$