All High School Physics Resources
Example Questions
Example Question #441 : High School Physics
A ball is about to roll off the edge of a tall table. What is its current potential energy?
The equation for potential energy is . We are given the mass of the ball, the height of the table, and the acceleration of gravity in the question. The distance the ball travels is in the downward direction, making it negative.
Plug in the values, and solve for the potential energy.
The units for energy are Joules.
Example Question #442 : High School Physics
A pendulum with string length is dropped from rest. If the mass at the end of the pendulum is , what is its initial potential energy?
Potential energy can be found using the equation . For the pendulum, the height is going to be the length of the string.
Remember, your height is your change in distance. In this case the ball will go down , so the height will be negative since the ball travels downward.
The units for energy are Joules.
Example Question #45 : Energy
A ball rolls up a hill. If the ball is initially travelling with a velocity of , how high up the hill does it roll?
Use the conservation of energy equation to solve for the potential energy at the top of the hill.
Plug in the values given to you and solve for the final height.
Example Question #443 : High School Physics
Rob throws a ball vertically in the air with an initial velocity of . What is the maximum height of the ball?
The maximum height will be when the ball has only potential energy, and no kinetic energy. Initially, the ball has only kinetic energy and no potential energy. We can set these values equal to each other due to conservation of energy.
The masses will cancel out.
Plug in the values that were given and solve for the height.
Example Question #47 : Energy
A ball sits at rest on a table above the ground. What is the potential energy of the ball?
The only potential energy this ball can have is gravitational potential energy. The formula for gravitational potential energy is .
We are given the height and mass of the ball. Using the given values, we can solve for the potential energy.
Keep in mind that the displacement will be negative because the ball is traveling in the downward direction.
Example Question #48 : Energy
Two balls, one with mass and one with mass , are dropped from above the ground. What is the potential energy of the ball right before it starts to fall?
The equation for potential energy is .
Since we know the mass, height, and acceleration from gravity, we can simply multiply to find the potential energy.
Note that we plugged in for because the ball will be moving downward; the change in height is negative as the ball drops.
Example Question #49 : Energy
Two balls, one with mass and one with mass , are dropped from above the ground. What is the potential energy of the ball right before it starts to fall?
The equation for potential energy is .
Since we know the mass, height, and acceleration from gravity, we can simply multiply to find the potential energy.
Note that we plugged in for because the ball will be moving downward; the change in height is negative as the ball drops.
Example Question #444 : High School Physics
A book falls off the top of a bookshelf. What is its potential energy right before it falls?
The formula for potential energy is .
Given the values for the mass, height, and gravity, we can solve using multiplication. Note that the height is negative because the book falls in the downward direction.
Example Question #445 : High School Physics
A book falls off the top of a bookshelf. What is its potential energy right before it falls?
The formula for potential energy is .
Given the values for the mass, height, and gravity, we can solve using multiplication. Note that the height is negative because the book falls in the downward direction.
Example Question #446 : High School Physics
A book falls off the top of a bookshelf. What is its potential energy right before it falls?
The formula for potential energy is .
Given the values for the mass, height, and gravity, we can solve using multiplication. Note that the height is negative because the book falls in the downward direction.