Two bungee jumpers with the same mass stand on two buildings. One stands on a building 100ft tall and the other a building that is 200ft tall. Which has more potential energy and why?

Bungee jumpers that stand on a 200 ft building

Given

A building 100 ft tall

A building 200ft tall

Required

Which has the greatest potential energy

Solution

Potential energy is owned by an object because of its height

Can be formulated :

PE = m . g . h

g = acceleration due to gravity ,(m/s²)  

h = height , (m)  

m = mass, (kg)  

So PE is influenced by 3 factors:

the object's mass, its gravitational acceleration at that place and its height

Because the mass and gravitational acceleration are the same, the largest PE is owned by bungee jumpers that stand on a 200 ft building

6.4 cm (max) - 25 cm (min)