Answer: An 8 kg book at a height of 3 m has the most gravitational potential energy.
Explanation:
Gravitational potential energy is the product of mass of object, height of object and gravitational field.
So, formula to calculate gravitational potential energy is as follows.
U = mgh
where,
m = mass of object
g = gravitational field = [tex]9.81 m/s^{2}[/tex]
h = height of object
(A) m = 5 kg and h = 2m
Therefore, its gravitational potential energy is calculated as follows.
[tex]U = mgh\\= 5 kg \times 9.81 m/s^{2} \times 2 m\\= 98.1 J (1 J = kg m^{2}/s^{2})[/tex]
(B) m = 8 kg and h = 2 m
Therefore, its gravitational potential energy is calculated as follows.
[tex]U = mgh\\= 8 kg \times 9.81 m/s^{2} \times 2 m\\= 156.96 J (1 J = kg m^{2}/s^{2})[/tex]
(C) m = 8 kg and h = 3 m
Therefore, its gravitational potential energy is calculated as follows.
[tex]U = mgh\\= 8 kg \times 9.81 m/s^{2} \times 3 m\\= 235.44 J (1 J = kg m^{2}/s^{2})[/tex]
(D) m = 5 kg and h = 3 m
Therefore, its gravitational potential energy is calculated as follows.
[tex]U = mgh\\= 5 kg \times 9.81 m/s^{2} \times 3 m\\= 147.15 J (1 J = kg m^{2}/s^{2})[/tex]
Thus, we can conclude that an 8 kg book at a height of 3 m has the most gravitational potential energy.
