Question

Gravity is the force that keeps us on the Earth. It pulls us towards the center of the Earth. If you were to move from the surface of the Earth to a point higher up, away from the Earth, what type of energy would be gained? A. Chemical potential energy B. Gravitational potential energy C. Gravitational kinetic energy D. Kinetic potential energy

Answer 1

Answer: B. Gravitational potential energy

Explanation:

The gravitational potential energy is the energy that a body or object possesses, due to its position in a gravitational field.

That is why this energy depends on the relative height of an object with respect to some point of reference and associated with the gravitational force.

In the case of the Earth, in which  the gravitational field is considered constant, the value of the gravitational potential energy $U_{p}$ will be:

$U_{p}=mgh$  

Where $m$ is the mass of the object, $g$ the acceleration due gravity and $h$ the height of the object.

As we can see, the value of $U_{p}$ is directly proportional to the height.