Describe how distance affects gravitational potential energy - Middle School Physical Science

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Question

Which of these objects would have the MOST gravitational pull if we were standing directly on the surface?

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Answer

The answer is a planet more massive than the Earth, because it has the most mass.

Gravitational energy exists between all objects. We rarely talk about the gravitational energy that exists between objects here on Earth because the pull is so weak. We consider the effect of gravity more often when we talk about planets, stars, and galaxies because they are more massive and have much stronger forces of gravity at work.

The gravitational potential energy of an object depends on the mass of objects, and how far away they are from each other. More massive objects have more gravitational pull. (Remember that just because something is bigger, doesn’t mean it has more mass!) Objects that are closer together have more gravitational pull.

Weight is a measure of the effect of gravity on an object, and can change depending on where we are. Our mass never changes but we weigh less on the moon because there is less gravitational energy between us and the moon. The moon has less gravitational energy than Earth because it is less massive.

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