Suppose you are chatting with your friend, who lives on the moon. He tells you he has just won a Newton of gold in a contest. Excitedly, you tell him that you entered the Earth version of the same contest and also won a Newton of gold. Who is richer

The friend on moon is richer.

Explanation:

The value of acceleration due to gravity changes from planet to planet. So the weight of 1 Newton of gold carries different mass on different places. So we need to calculate the mass of gold that both persons have.

FRIEND ON MOON:

W₁ = m₁g₁

where,

W₁ = Weight of Gold won by friend on moon = 1 N

m₁ = mass of gold won by friend on moon = ?

g₁ = acceleration due to gravity on moon = 1.625 m/s²

Therefore,

1 N = m₁(1.625 m/s²)

m₁ = 0.62 kg

ON EARTH:

W₂ = m₂g₂

where,

W₂ = Weight of Gold won by me on Earth = 1 N

m₂ = mass of gold won by me on Earth = ?

g₂ = acceleration due to gravity on Earth = 9.8 m/s²

Therefore,

1 N = m₁(9.8 m/s²)

m₁ = 0.1 kg

Since, the friend on moon has greater mass of gold than me.

Therefore, the friend on moon is richer.

gpe = mass x gravity constant x height or… gpe = mgh

where… mass: measured in kilograms (kg)

gravity: gravity constant on earth = 10.00 m/s2

height: measured in meters (m)

gpe: measured in joules (j) or kilojoules (kj)

how do you solve gpe?

gravitational potential energy (gpe) is the energy an object has because of its position above the. ground.

gpe = mass x gravity constant x height or… gpe = mgh.

mass:

note: to earn full marks when solving science word problems, you must show your work:

formula.

example:

given values:

mass = 0.3 kg.

when two balls of the different masses are dropped from equal height, they reach the ground at the same time .this is because they experience the same acceleration.

the acceleration is independent of mass.

thus when they are dropped they will always maintain the same velocity and travel the same distance (neglect air resistance of course) at the same time.