If you hold a rock at the top of a hill, the energy it possesses due to its position is called

If you hold a rock at the top of a hill, the energy it possesses due to its position is called

• A. Kinetic Energy
• B. Potential Energy
• C. Thermal Energy
• D. Nuclear Energy

Answer: (B)

Potential energy is the energy something has because of its position. When the rock is at the top of the hill, it has gravitational potential energy from being higher up. The higher something is in a gravitational field, the more potential energy it stores, depending on its mass and the height. If you let it go, that stored energy can turn into kinetic energy, the energy of motion, as the rock speeds up going down the hill. Thermal energy is about temperature, and nuclear energy comes from changes in atomic nuclei, which isn’t what’s being stored here.

Potential energy is the energy something has because of its position. When the rock is at the top of the hill, it has gravitational potential energy from being higher up. The higher something is in a gravitational field, the more potential energy it stores, depending on its mass and the height. If you let it go, that stored energy can turn into kinetic energy, the energy of motion, as the rock speeds up going down the hill. Thermal energy is about temperature, and nuclear energy comes from changes in atomic nuclei, which isn’t what’s being stored here.