Gravitational potential energy

Energy

GCSE Physics (8463)

ORIGINAL

Convert grams to kilograms, rearrange Ep = mgh for the height, and round once at the end.

Board and spec code confirmed against AQA 8463 · registry checked 2026-07-17How this checking works

Question

A drone of mass

1200\,\text{g}

rises vertically and gains

330\,\text{J}

of energy in its gravitational potential energy store. Gravitational field strength

= 9.8\,\text{N/kg}

. Calculate the height the drone rises. Give your answer to 2 significant figures.

Every step worked, with the reasoning.

1
$m = 1200\,\text{g} = 1.2\,\text{kg}$
$E_p = mgh$ needs the mass in kilograms: divide grams by 1000.
2
$E_p = mgh \Rightarrow h = \dfrac{E_p}{mg}$
Rearrange before substituting: divide both sides by $mg$ .
3
$h = \dfrac{330}{1.2 \times 9.8} = \dfrac{330}{11.76}$
Work out the denominator first — $mg$ is the drone's weight, $11.76\,\text{N}$ .
4
$h = 28.06\ldots\,\text{m} = 28\,\text{m}$ (2 s.f.)
Keep the full value until the last line, then round to the 2 significant figures asked for.

Answer: $28\,\text{m}$