Physics grade 9 New curriculum Unit 4 Force, work, Energy and power part

Physics grade 9 New curriculum Unit 4 Force, work, Energy and power Gravitational potential energy Potential energy is the stored energy in an object by a virtue of its position or its configuration. There are two types of potential energy. Examples are potential energy due to gravity, and elastic potential energy. However, in this section you are going to learn gravitational potential energy. Gravitational potential energy is the energy of an object held in a vertical position due to the force of gravity working to pull it down. The gravitational potential energy depends the height and mass of an object. The heavier the object and the higher it is above the ground, the more potential energy it holds. The gravitational potential energy (Ep) of an object is given by: EP = mass×gravitational acceleration×height ⇒ Ep = mgh