Complete Question
A mass attached to a vertical spring causes the spring to stretch and the mass to move downwards. What can you say about the spring's potential energy Us and the gravitational potential energy Ug of the mass?
A. both Us and Ug decrease
B. Us increases and Ug decreases
C Both Us and Ug increase
D Us decreases and Ug increases
E Us increases and Ug is constant
Answer:
Option B is the correct Answer
Explanation:
The Gravitational Potential energy is mathematically represented as
Where m is the mass , g is the acceleration due to gravity while and h is the height
And in term of the spring this energy represents the workdone against gravitational Force
The Spring potential energy is mathematically represented as
Where k is the spring constant ans x is the extension in the spring
And energy represents the work that is being done to stretch the spring
If the system as state in the question is setup and is being increased then decreases