what is the gravitational potential energy at the centre of the earth??? If infinity is taken as the reference (i.e zero energy level)
To calculate the gravitational potential energy at the center of the Earth using infinity as the reference (zero energy level), we can use the formula for gravitational potential energy:
Gravitational Potential Energy = (-GMm) / r
where:
- G is the universal gravitational constant (6.67430 × 10^-11 N m^2 / kg^2)
- M is the mass of the Earth (5.972 × 10^24 kg)
- m is the mass of the object
- r is the distance from the center of the Earth to the object
At the center of the Earth, the distance r is zero since the object is at the exact center. However, if we substitute r = 0 into the formula, we encounter a problem since division by zero is undefined.
Therefore, at the exact center of the Earth, the concept of gravitational potential energy does not have a meaningful value. Gravitational potential energy is only defined for points at a non-zero distance from the center of the Earth.