Created By : Sunil Kumar Gandipadala

Reviewed By : Phani Ponnapalli

Last Updated : Apr 10, 2023


Free and user friendly Gravitational Potential Energy Calculator tool is provided on this page. This online calculator aims at finding the gravitational potential energy of an object in fraction of seconds and gives the step by step solution guide. You must enter mass, height, gravity at the input sections and press on the calculate button to find the accurate result.

Ex: 10, 167, 48, 34.5 or 90

Mass
Height

Step by Step Process to Compute Gravitational Potential Energy

Gravitational potential energy is the energy of an object that is produced due to height. The amount of energy of an object possesses due to its position in the gravitational field. Below given simple steps helps you to find the object gravitational potential energy.

  • Let us take 3 important parameters.
  • They are mass of the object, height of the object from earth surface and acceleration due to gravity.
  • Keep in mind that units of all parameters should be same. If not, convert them.
  • Multiply those three parameters to find the gravitational potential energy.

Gravitational Potential Energy Formula

Gravitational potential energy is related with the gravitational field, which is released when the objects fall towards each other. Potential energy is the energy that something has because of its state or position rather than because it is moving.

The formula to find the gravitational potential energy is listed here.

Gravitational potential energy GPE = m * g * h

Where, m is the mass of the object

g is the acceleration due to gravity

h is the height of the object above the earth surface

Example

Question: A 2 kg body free falls from rest from a height of 12 m. Determine the work done by the force of gravity and the change in gravitational potential energy? Consider the acceleration due to gravity to be 10 m/s².

Solution:

Given that,

Mass of the object m = 2 kg

Height h = 12 m

Acceleration due to gravity g = 10 m/s²

Work w = m * g * h

Substitute the given values in the formula

Work = 12 * 2 * 10

= 240 N

The change in gravitational potential energy is equal to the work done by gravity.

Gravitational potential energy GPE = 100 Joule

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FAQs on Gravitational Potential Energy Calculator

1. How do you calculate mass with gravitational potential energy?

The formula to calculate the mass of an object using gravitational potential energy is as follows

m = GPE / (h * g) where g is the acceleration due to gravity, h is the height of the object from the earth surface.


2. What are the examples of gravitational potential energy?

The example of gravitational potential energy is a book on a high bookshelf has higher GPE than a book on the bottom shelf because it has farther fall. The other simple gravitational potential energy examples are a book on the table before it falls, water that is behind a dam, a car that is picked at the top of hill, and ripe fruit before it falls from the tree.


3. What are the three things needed to calculate gravitational potential energy?

The three things that are required to find the gravitational potential energy are mass of the object, height of the object from the surface and acceleration due to gravity i.e 9.8 N/kg.


4. A crane lifts a 75 kg mass a height of 8 m. Calculate the gravitational potential energy gained by the mass (g = 9.8 N/kg)?

Gravitational potential energy = m * g * h

= 75 * 8 * 9.8

Gravitational potential energy = 5,880 Joule