Question

a 1 kg ball is thrown straight up into the air and its height is recorded every second until it reaches the ground a little more than 3 seconds later. the height of the ball above the ground is shown in the table. what is the potential energy of the ball at each time? gravitational potential energy can be calculated by multiplying the mass, the height, and the acceleration due to gravity (9.8 m/s²). at what time would the ball have the highest gravitational potential energy for the ball be

time (s)	height (m)
1	8
2	10
3	3

graph: potential energy (j) vs time (s) with axes labeled, grid lines, and a data point marked

options: 0s, 1s, 2s, 3s

Explanation:

Gravitational potential energy (GPE) is calculated as \( GPE = mgh \), where \( m \) (mass) is 1 kg, \( g \) (acceleration due to gravity) is \( 9.8 \, \text{m/s}^2 \), and \( h \) is height. Since \( m \) and \( g \) are constant, GPE depends directly on height. From the table, at 0s height is 0m, 1s height is 8m, 2s height is 10m, and 3s height is 3m. The highest height (10m) occurs at 2s, so GPE is highest at 2s.

Answer:

2s