Gravitational Potential Energy
Change in potential energy moving mass m from r₁ to r₂ (r₂ > r₁)?
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About This Question
- Subject
- physics
- Chapter
- gravitation
- Topic
- gravitational potential energy
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Year
- 2025
Solution
Correct Answer:
GMm (1/r₂ - 1/r₁)
- Potential Energy Formula: U(r)=−rGMm.
- Change in Energy ((\Delta U)): ΔU=Ufinal−Uinitial=U(r2)−U(r1).
- Calculation: ΔU=(−r2GMm)−(−r1GMm)=r1GMm−r2GMm.
- Factor out GMm: ΔU=GMm(r11−r21).
- Sign Check: If r2>r1, then 1/r1>1/r2, making ΔU positive. This makes sense as work must be done against gravity to increase separation.
This medium difficulty physics question is from the chapter gravitation, covering the topic of gravitational potential energy. It appeared in the 2025 exam.
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