You and your friend (same masses) want to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower. Your friend takes the elevator straight up. You decide to walk up the spiral stairway, taking longer to do so. Compare the gravitational potential energy (U) of you and your friend, after you both reach the top.

The gravitational potential energy of me and my friend is same.

Explanation:

Given:

The mass of both the persons are same.

The acceleration due to gravity is same for both the persons.

The height reached by both the persons is equal to the height of the Eiffel Tower.

The time taken by my friend is more than me because my friend takes a longer route.

Now, we know that, gravitational potential energy of a body is directly proportional to its mass, acceleration due to gravity and height of the body reached  and is independent of time taken. It is given as:

As per the question, the masses are same and the heights reached by each one of them is also same. The acceleration due to gravity remains constant.

Therefore, the gravitational potential energy of me and my friend is also same.

probably not if net force is zero