Complete the statement. Assume that the ball's mass did not change.
The gravitational potential energy stored between the ball and Earth () as the ball rolled along the lane.
decreased increased stayed the same
Read the text about an object in motion.
Gabrielle went bowling with some friends. She rolled her ball along the flat bowling lane toward the pins.
Gravitational potential energy is stored between any two objects. So, for every object on or near Earth, there is gravitational potential energy stored between the object and Earth.
The amount of gravitational potential energy stored between an object and Earth depends on the mass of the object. The amount of gravitational potential energy also depends on the distance between the object and the center of Earth. This distance increases when the object moves higher and decreases when the object moves lower.
If the distance between an object and the center of Earth changes, the gravitational potential energy stored between the object and Earth will change. The table below shows how this change can happen.
When an object's mass stays the same and its distance from the center of Earth... | Gravitational potential energy stored between the object and Earth...
increases | increases
decreases | decreases
stays the same | stays the same
Think about how the distance between the ball and the center of Earth changed.
Because the bowling lane was flat, each point on the lane was the same distance from the center of Earth. As the ball rolled along the lane, the distance between the ball and the center of Earth stayed the same. So, the gravitational potential energy stored between the ball and Earth stayed the same as the ball rolled along the lane.