Question

The drawing shows two identical airplanes at an air show. The airplanes are flying at the same speed. Airplane W is flying 50 m higher than airplane X. Which statement best describes the energy of the two airplanes?

Answer 1

Airplane X has more gravitational potential energy than Airplane W

Step-by-step explanation:

Gravitational potential energy is defined as "the energy acquired by an object due to its positional change in presence of gravitational force."

That being said, gravitational potential energy depends on the height of an object above the ground. It also depends on the mass of the object and even further, the amount of gravitational force that is applied.

And if we take a look at the question again, we'd agree that the two airplanes are flying at different heights, this means their gravitational potential energy will be different. And as such, Airplane X has more gravitational potential energy than Airplane W