Complete the statement. Assume that the book's mass did not change.
The gravitational potential energy stored between the book and Earth () as the book fell toward the ground.
decreased stayed the same increased
Read the text about an object in motion.
Harold knocked a book off a bookshelf. The book fell to the ground.
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 book and the center of Earth changed.
The ground is lower than the bookshelf. As the book fell toward the ground, the distance between the book and the center of Earth decreased. So, the gravitational potential energy stored between the book and Earth decreased as the book fell toward the ground.