Jose is helping his father repair the roof on their house. He climbs up a ladder from the ground to a roof. How did Jose change his gravitational potential energy? Choose 1 answer: A His gravitational potential energy decreased. B The gravitational potential energy between Jose and Earth did not change. C His gravitational potential energy increased.

## Step1Gravitational potential energy, in physics, refers to the energy an object possesses due to its position in a gravitational field. The most common example is the energy associated with an object due to its height above the ground. The gravitational potential energy (PE) is given by the formula ### where 'm' is the mass of the object, 'g' is the acceleration due to gravity, and 'h' is the height of the object from the ground.## Step2In this question, Jose climbs up a ladder from the ground to a roof. As he ascends, his height 'h' above the ground increases. Given that the mass 'm' of Jose and the acceleration due to gravity 'g' remain constant, the only variable that changes is his height 'h'. As 'h' increases, so does his gravitational potential energy according to the formula .## Step3Therefore, by climbing up to the roof, Jose increases his height above the ground, which in turn increases his gravitational potential energy relative to the ground.