What happens to the gravitational potential energy of an object as it moves away

Practice Questions

Q1
What happens to the gravitational potential energy of an object as it moves away from a planet?
  1. It increases.
  2. It decreases.
  3. It remains constant.
  4. It becomes zero.

Questions & Step-by-Step Solutions

What happens to the gravitational potential energy of an object as it moves away from a planet?
  • Step 1: Understand gravitational potential energy (GPE). It is the energy an object has due to its position in a gravitational field.
  • Step 2: Recognize that when an object is close to a planet, it has lower gravitational potential energy (more negative value).
  • Step 3: As the object moves away from the planet, the gravitational pull on it decreases.
  • Step 4: Since the gravitational pull is weaker, the GPE of the object increases (the value becomes less negative).
  • Step 5: Therefore, as the object moves further away, it gains gravitational potential energy.
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