If you do 500J of work to elevate a bucket of water, what is its gravitational potential energy relative to its starting position?

500*10=5,000
5,000/500=10

Huh? 500 Joules is 500 Joules.

To find the gravitational potential energy of an object, you need to multiply the work done on the object by the acceleration due to gravity. The formula for gravitational potential energy is:

Gravitational Potential Energy = mass * acceleration due to gravity * height

In this case, the height is not given, but it is implied that you have elevated a bucket of water. Let's assume that the mass of the bucket of water is 1 kilogram and the acceleration due to gravity is 10 m/s^2.

To find the height, you can rearrange the formula as follows:

Gravitational Potential Energy = Work done = force * distance

Since the work done is given as 500 J and the force is equal to the weight of the bucket of water (mass * acceleration due to gravity), you can substitute these values into the equation:

500 J = (1 kg * 10 m/s^2) * distance

Rearranging the equation to solve for distance:

distance = 500 J / (1 kg * 10 m/s^2)

Simplifying the equation:

distance = 50 meters

Now that you know the distance or height at which the bucket of water was elevated, you can calculate the gravitational potential energy using the formula:

Gravitational Potential Energy = mass * acceleration due to gravity * height

Gravitational Potential Energy = 1 kg * 10 m/s^2 * 50 m = 500 J

Therefore, the gravitational potential energy of the bucket of water relative to its starting position is 500 J.