Question

Which factors affect gravitational potential force but not elastic potential energy

Answer 1

Explanation :

The gravitational potential energy is possessed due to the height of an object from its reference level under the action of gravity.

Mathematically, it can be written as :

U = m g h

Where

m is the mass of an object

g is acceleration due to gravity

h is the height of an object

The elastic potential energy is given by :

$EPE=\dfrac{1}{2}kx^2$

Where

k is the spring constant

x is the position of object form its equilibrium position.

It is clear that the gravitational potential energy depends on the mass and the position of an object while the elastic potential energy depends only on the position of an object.

Answer 2

Answer:

The mass of the object involved and the value of the gravitational acceleration

Explanation:

- Gravitational potential energy is defined as the energy possessed by an object in a gravitational field due to its position with respect to the ground:

$U=mgh$

where m is the mass of the object, g is the gravitational acceleration and h is the heigth of the object with respect to the ground.

- Elastic potential energy is defined as the energy possessed by an elastic object and it is given as:

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

where k is the spring constant of the elastic object, while x is the compression/stretching of the spring with respect to the equilibrium position.

As we can see from the equations, both types of energy depends on the relative position of the object/end of the spring with respect to a certain reference position (h in the first formula, x in the second formula), but gravitational potential energy also depends on m (the mass) and g (the gravitational acceleration) while the elastic energy does not.