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Learn about the potential energy a massive object has due to its position in a gravitational field, and how it is related to the work done by the gravitational force. Compare the formulations of gravitational energy in Newtonian mechanics and general relativity.
We define this to be the gravitational potential energy \((PE_g)\) put into (or gained by) the object-Earth system. This energy is associated with the state of separation between two objects that attract each other by the gravitational force.
29 wrz 2022 · Learn what gravitational potential energy is, how to calculate it, and why it is negative. Find out how it depends on the mass and height of an object and how it relates to the Earth's gravity.
Learn what gravitational potential energy means and how to calculate it. Skip to main content If you're seeing this message, it means we're having trouble loading external resources on our website.
Gravitational Potential Energy beyond Earth. We defined work and potential energy, previously. The usefulness of those definitions is the ease with which we can solve many problems using conservation of energy. Potential energy is particularly useful for forces that change with position, as the gravitational force does over large distances.
Gravity is the first force to be postulated as an action-at-a-distance force, that is, objects exert a gravitational force on one another without physical contact and that force falls to zero only at an infinite distance.
Newton's law of universal gravitation can be used to derive an equation for gravitational potential energy that is useful for astronomical problems.
