Activity 3. Potential Energy Objective: After performing this activity, you should be able to investigate that increasing or reducing the mass and/or height affect/s the potential energy of the object. The situations and explanations below are introduced to guide and help you answer the questions that follow. Situation A: Two objects of different mass are situated at the same height. 10 kg 5m 10 kg 5 m 5m 301 20 kg Situation B: Two objects of the same mass are situated at different height. hien The potential energy of the box that is 10 m from the ground is twice as much the potential energy of the box that is 5 m from the ground when both boxes are of the same mass. 10 kg The potential energy of 20-kg box is twice as much as the potential energy of a 10-kg box when both boxes are of the same height from the ground. Why is this so? 10 m The 20-kg box has twice as much the mass of the 10-kg box. Since they are of the same height from the ground, using the formula of potential energy, PE = mgh = (2m)gh Therefore, PE = 2mgh. The potential w energy is doubled. Why is this so? The box that is 10 m from the ground has twice as much height of the other box. Since mass is the same for both boxes, using the formula of potential energy, PE = mgh =mg(2h) Therefore, PE = 2mgh. The potential energy is doubled.​