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Potential Energy Worksheet
(Use the GUESS method, Show all work, Include units)
EXAMPLE
A 30 kg child climbs 15 meters up a tree. When he look arounds, what is the child’s potential energy?
STEP 1. First we identify the Given information provided in the problem:
•mass = 30 kg
•height = 15 meters
STEP 2. Identify the Unknown information:
•weight
•potential energy
You should note that you are not given the weight of the child, but rather the mass. To solve this problem, you
must convert the child’s mass to his corresponding weight on Earth.
•weight = mass x gravity • weight = 30 kg x 9.8 m/sec2 • weight = 294 N
STEP 3. Identify the Equation
•GPE = weight x height
STEP 4. Now, Substitute the information for weight and height into the gravitational potential energy formula:
•GPE = 294 N x 15 meters
STEP 5. Solve the problem to give a potential energy value of 4410 J.
1. A weight lifter lifts a set of 1250kg weights a vertical distance of 2m in a weight lifting contest. What
Potential Energy do the weights now possess?
2. A shopper in a supermarket takes a box of sugar from a shelf that is 1.5 m high because he is
going to bake some muffins. He also needs to get some blueberries. The sugar has a weight of 5N.
What Potential Energy did the sugar have before it was taken from the shelf?
