Question

Rocks A and B are located at the same height on top of a hill. The mass of rock A is twice the mass of rock B. How does the potential energy of rock B compare to that of rock A?

Answer 1

rock b has one half the potential energy of rock a

Answer 2

Potential energy is defined by formula

`U = mgh`

here

m = mass

g = acceleration due to gravity

h = height

Now here two different stones are located at same height

while mass of stone A is twice that of stone B

so here we can say potential energy of A is

`U_a = (2m)gh`

Similarly potential energy of B is

`U_b = mgh`

now if we take the ratio of two energy

`(U_a)/(U_b) = 2`

so we can say potential energy of stone A is two times the potential energy of B