Suppose there is a soccer ball (2kg) and a baseball (1 kg) on a shelf. they are both 1 m above the floor. which one has the larger gravitation energy? (hint. it’s not because one is heavier)

Let's calculate the gravitational potential energy of both objects by using the equation:

where
m is the mass of the object
g is the gravitational acceleration
h is the height of the object above the ground

For the soccer ball (m=2 kg), the gravitational potential energy is

While for the basketball (m=1 kg) the gravitational potential energy is


Therefore, we see that the soccer ball has larger gravitational potential energy than the basketball.