Question

The potential energy of an apple is $6$ joules. The apple is $3$ meters high. What is the mass of the apple?

Answer 1

The energy possessed by a body or system by virtue of its position or configuration is understood as P.E. . There are two sorts of P.E. - gravitational P.E. and elastic potential energy. P.E. gained by an object is given by $mgh$ . Elastic P.E. is that the energy stored in objects which will be compressed or stretched.

Formula used:
Potential energy of a body is given by,
$P.E = mgh$
Where $m$ is the mass of the object, $h$ is the height of the object from the ground and $g$ is the acceleration due to gravity.

Complete step by step answer:
We are given, the potential energy of an apple is $6$ joules. The height of the apple is $3$ meters. Now, we'd like to seek out the mass of the apple. Potential energy is the energy possessed by a body or system by virtue of its position or configuration is known as the potential energy. The Potential energy of a body is given by,
$P.E = mgh$

Substituting $P.E = 6{\text{ }}J$ , and $h = 3{\text{ m}}$ in the equation we get
$6 = 3mg$
$\Rightarrow m = \dfrac{6}{{3g}}$
But $g = 9.8{\text{ m/}}{{\text{s}}^2}$
Substituting the value in the equation
$\Rightarrow m = \dfrac{2}{{9.8}}$
$\therefore m = 0.204{\text{ kg}}$

Thus, the mass of the apple is $m = 0.204{\text{ kg}}$.

Note: It's important to remember that gravitational energy is determined by the difference between the object's beginning and final heights, not by the distance traveled. As a result, the path taken by the object to achieve its current height is ignored. Regarding the potential energy, it is important to note that it is defined for a conservative force field only.For non-conservative forces, it has no meaning.