You are having a snowball fight with your best friend on a frosty winter day. You are standing on the roof of your 5 m tall house with a 0.4 kg snowball. You drop the snowball downward from rest toward your friend,
who is making snow angels below you. Ignoring air resistance, solve for the gravitational potential energy of
the snowball before it is released.
a) 12.5 J
b) 19.6J
c) 5J
d) 2J
The gravitational potential energy of an object is given by the formula:
PE = mgh
where m is the mass of the object (0.4 kg), g is the acceleration due to gravity (9.8 m/s^2), and h is the height of the object (5 m).
Plugging in the values:
PE = (0.4 kg)(9.8 m/s^2)(5 m)
= 19.6 J
Therefore, the gravitational potential energy of the snowball before it is released is 19.6 J.
The correct answer is b) 19.6 J.