Activity 3. Potential Energy
Objective:
After performing this activity, you should be able to investigate that
increasing or reducing the mass and/or height affect/s the potential energy of the
object. The situations and explanations below are introduced to guide and help you
answer the questions that follow.
Situation A: Two objects of different mass are situated at the same height.
10 kg
5m
20 kg
The potential energy of 20-kg box
is twice as much as the potential
energy of a 10-kg box when both
boxes are of the same height from
the ground.
Why is this so?
The 20-kg box has twice as much
the mass of the 10-kg box. Since
they are of the same height from
the ground, using the formula of
potential energy, PE = mgh
Therefore,
==
(2m)gh
2mgh. The
=
PE
potential energy is doubled.
Situation B: Two objects of the same mass are situated at different height.
10 kg
5 m
10 kg
10 m
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The potential energy of the box
that is 10 m from the ground is
twice as much the potential
energy of the box that is 5 m from
the ground when both boxes are
of
the same mass.
Why is this so?
The box that is 10 m from the
ground has twice as much height
of the
other box. Since mass is the
same for both boxes, using the
formula of potential energy,
PE = mgh
=mg(2h)
Therefore, PE = 2mgh. The
potential energy is doubled.
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