Question

Four landing sites are proposed for a lander. Data about the sites are listed in the table.

A 3 column table with 4 rows. The first column is labeled landing site with entries W, X, Y, Z. The second column is labeled height above surface in meters with entries 32, 16, 35, 12. The last column is labeled acceleration due to gravity in meters per second squared with entries 1.6, 3.7, 1.6, 3.7.
At which landing site would the lander have the greatest amount of gravitational potential energy?

A. W
B. X
C. Y
D. Z

Answer 1

Step-by-step explanation:

The greatest amount of gravitational potential energy at landing site X

What is the greatest gravitational potential energy?

To calculate the gravitational potential energy at each landing site, we can use the formula:

Gravitational Potential Energy (PE) = mass × acceleration due to gravity × height above surface

If the mass is assumed to be constant, we can ignore it and focus on the acceleration due to gravity and height above the surface.

From the table, we can see that the lander would have the greatest amount of gravitational potential energy at landing site X, with a value of 592.8 Joules.