Briefly describing the gravitational potential energy, deduce an expression for the gravitational potential energy of a body of mass m placed at a height h, above the ground.
Answer:
When an object is raised through a certain height above the ground, its energy increases. This is because the work is done on it, against gravity. The energy present in such an object is called gravitational potential energy. Thus, the gravitational potential energy of an object at a point above the ground is defined as the work done in raising it from the ground to that point against gravity. Consider a body of mass m lying at point P on the Earth’s surface, where its potential energy is taken as zero. As weight, mg acts
vertically downwards, so to lift the body to another position Q at a height h, we have to apply a minimum force which is equal to mg in the upward direction. Thus, work is done on the body against the force of gravity.