The picture shows Gerald's toy truck, which he can fill with weights, and the track it will travel on. Gerald puts a weight in the truck and releases it from the starting position, at a height of 0.30 meters. He does this again for each of the weights, releasing the truck from the same position each time. He makes the chart below to keep track of each test. Which of the following graphs BEST shows the relationship between the potential energy (in joules) of the truck at its starting position and the total mass (in kilograms) of the weighted truck? A. B. C. D.
Since the potential energy is given by the formula PE = mgh, where m is the mass of the object, g is the acceleration due to gravity (approximately 9.8 m/s^2), and h is the height of the object, we can see that the potential energy is directly proportional to the mass of the object.
Therefore, as the total mass of the weighted truck increases, the potential energy at the starting position will also increase.
The correct graph would have a positive linear relationship, where the potential energy increases steadily as the total mass increases.
Based on this information, the best graph for the relationship between potential energy and total mass is graph B.