4.17 Gravitational Potential Energy & Gravity

Question 1

When will an object have energy in its gravitational potential energy store?

Answer 1

When it is at any height above the Earth’s surface

Question 2

Describe how energy is transferred when an object is lifted above the ground

Answer 2

When an object is lifted above the ground, work is done by the lifting force (against gravity) to move the object. Energy is transferred to the object’s gravitational potential energy store. Assuming there’s no friction or air resistance, when the object stops moving, the work done to lift the object will be equal to the energy transferred to its gravitational potential energy store

Question 3

What is the field of influence around something called?

Answer 3

Gravitational field

Question 4

How is mass and weight different?

Answer 4

• An object’s mass is an instrinsic property of that object. You can think of it as the “amount of stuff” in an object.
• An object’s weight refers to the force acting on that object due to gravity. This means that an object’s weight can change depending on the strength of gravity.

Question 5

Every object in the universe exerts a force of gravitational attraction on every other object in the universe. Which two factors determine the strength of the gravitational force of attraction?

Answer 5

• The mass of the objects
• The distance between the objects