Gravitational energy - Simple English Wikipedia

# Gravitational energy

### From Wikipedia, a free encyclopedia written in simple English for easy reading.

Potential energy is defined as work against a particular force.

Gravitational potential energy is the energy held by an object because of its high position compared to a lower reference level. i.e. A physic's textbook being held above a table has a higher gravitational potential than a pencil sitting on the table.

A reference level is the level to which an object might fall.

The mathematical formula for the gravitational potential energy of an object is:

Force of gravity = mgh

where, m is the mass of the object, g the gravitional pull and h the height above a chosen reference level.

Typical measurement units for the equation are: The value m is in kilograms, the value h is in metres, the value g is 9.81 metres per second squared. g is known the gravitional constant.

Gravitional potential energy is Mechanical energy minus Kinetic Energy. It has a scalar quantity measured in Joules (J).

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