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Grade upto college level Mechanics

What happens to the potential energy that is lost as an elevator descends from the top of a building to a stop at the ground floor?

Profile image of Shane Macguire
11 Years agoGrade upto college level
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1 Answer

Profile image of Deepak Patra
11 Years ago
An elevator descends from the top of a building to a stop at the ground.
The potential energy (E) of the elevator is defined as,
E = mgy
Where m is the mass of the elevator, g is the acceleration due to gravity of earth and y is the height of the elevator from the earth.
The potential energy of the elevator at the top will be maximum since y is maximum at the top and at the ground will be zero since y is zero at the ground. The loss of potential energy of the elevator descends from the top of a building to a stop at the ground floor used in the mechanical work of the elevator when it comes from top to ground.