What This Tool Does
Use this calculator to find gravitational potential energy from mass, height, and a gravity assumption. It applies PE = m × g × h, converting mass to kilograms and height to meters before calculating.
Visible result statistics show J, kJ, kcal, ft·lb, kWh, and BTU. The downloaded text result also includes cal.
Inputs & Supported Units
- Mass (m) and Mass unit: kilograms (kg), grams (g), pounds (lb), slugs, or metric tons (t).
- Height (h) and Height unit: meters (m), centimeters (cm), kilometers (km), feet (ft), inches (in), or miles (mi).
- Gravity assumption (g): Earth (9.80665 m/s²), Moon (1.62 m/s²), Mars (3.72076 m/s²), Jupiter (24.79 m/s²), or Custom.
- Gravity value (m/s²): the preset value, or your value when Custom is selected.
How to Use the Potential Energy Calculator
- Enter a value in Mass (m) and choose a Mass unit.
- Enter a value in Height (h) and choose a Height unit.
- Choose Gravity assumption (g). Select Custom if you need to enter Gravity value (m/s²).
- Select Calculate to display the result, formula, conversions, and intermediate values.
- Select Copy result to copy the plain-text result, or select Download result (.txt) to download it.
- Select Reset to clear the entered values and restore the default units and Earth gravity preset.
Validation and Calculation Limits
Mass must be finite, numeric, and greater than zero. Height must be finite, numeric, and zero or positive. Gravity must be finite, numeric, and greater than zero. Empty, non-numeric, negative, or oversized inputs are rejected; values that would produce a non-finite result are also rejected.
The calculation uses constant gravity across the supplied height and does not infer missing values. It does not model changing gravity with altitude, air resistance, kinetic energy, elastic potential energy, or electrical potential energy.
Local Calculation and Result Actions
The calculation is performed in the browser, and the values entered into the calculator are not submitted by the calculation. Download result (.txt) creates a plain-text download. If Copy result cannot access the clipboard, the tool shows “Could not copy - select and copy manually.”
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the formula for gravitational potential energy?
Gravitational potential energy equals mass times gravitational acceleration times height: PE = m × g × h.
What units does this calculator support?
Mass supports kilograms, grams, pounds, slugs, and metric tons. Height supports meters, centimeters, kilometers, feet, inches, and miles. Gravity supports Earth, Moon, Mars, Jupiter, or Custom. Visible statistics show J, kJ, kcal, ft·lb, kWh, and BTU; the downloaded TXT output also includes cal.
What gravity value should I use?
For an Earth calculation, use the Earth preset of 9.80665 m/s². The other presets are Moon (1.62 m/s²), Mars (3.72076 m/s²), and Jupiter (24.79 m/s²). You can also enter a custom value.
Can height or mass be negative in this calculator?
Mass must be greater than zero. Height must be zero or positive.
Does this calculator account for changing gravity with altitude?
No. It applies the PE = mgh formula with the constant gravity value you choose or enter, so it does not model gravity decreasing with altitude.