Question

what happens to potential energy that an elevator loses coming down from top of building to a stop at the ground floor

Answer 1

Question#20938

what happens to potential energy that an elevator loses coming down from top of building to a stop at the ground floor

Answer:

The potential energy of an object is:

$$U = m g h$$

where $U$ is the potential energy of the object relative to its being on the Earth's surface, $m$ is the mass of the object, $g$ is the acceleration due to gravity, and $h$ is the altitude of the object.

Hence, the potential difference is:

$$\Delta U = m g \Delta h$$

According to this the potential energy of the elevator will decrease.