Question

How much work does gravity do on your 63.5 kg teacher when she trips and falls from a height of 1.55 m?

Answer 1

Given,

The mass of the teacher, m=63.5 kg

The height from which the teacher falls, h=1.55 m

Work is the measure of the transfer of energy. The work done by gravity will be equal to the potential energy lost by the teacher while falling. As she falls to the ground, she loses all her potential energy.

Therefore the work done by the gravity is given by,

`W=\text{mgh}`

Where g is the acceleration due to gravity.

On substituting the known values,

`\begin{gathered} W=63.5*9.8*1.55 \\ =964.57\text{ J} \end{gathered}`

Thus the work done by gravity is 964.57 J