Question

Suppose a skydiver (mass =100kg) is falling towards the earth. When the skydiver is 80 m above the earth he is moving at 60 m/s at this point calculate the skydivers gravitational potential energy

Answer 1

Answer: 78400 J

Explanation:

The gravitational potential energy is the energy that a body or object possesses, due to its position in a gravitational field.  That is why this energy depends on the relative height of an object with respect to some point of reference and associated with the gravitational force.  

In the case of the Earth, in which the gravitational field is considered constant, the value of the gravitational potential energy $U_{p}$ will be:  

$U_{p}=mgh$  

Where:

$m=100 kg$ is the mass of the skydiver

$g=9.8 m/s^{2}$ the acceleration due gravity

$h=80 m$ the height of the skydiver

Hence:

$U_{p}=(100 kg)(9.8 m/s^{2})(80 m)$  

$U_{p}=78400 J$