Question

A person is painting the walls of his house. He stands on a ladder with a bucket containing paint in one hand and a brush in the other. Suddenly the bucket slips from his hand and falls to the floor. If the bucket with the paint had a mass of 6 kg and was at a height of 2 m at the time it slipped, how much gravitational potential energy was lost together with the paint?

Answer 1

Given:

\[\text{ Mass of the bucket with the paint, m = 6 kg } \]

\[\text{ Height at which the bucket is placed, h = 2 m } \]

\[\text{ Potential energy of the bucket with the paint at the given height, } \]

\[\text{ P . E . = mgh } \]

\[ = 6 \times \left( 9 . 8 \right) \times 2\]

\[ = 117 . 6 J\]

\[\text{ P . E . on the floor } = 0\]

\[\text{ Loss in potential energy }  = 117 . 6 - 0\]

\[ = 117 . 6 J \approx 118 J\]