When the mass of the cylinder increased by a factor of 3, from 1.0 kg to 3.0 kg, what happened to the cylinder’s gravitational potential energy?

Gravitational potential energy is calculated as mass × gravitational acceleration × height (GPE = mgh). If the cylinder’s height and the gravitational acceleration stay the same, tripling its mass from 1.0 kg to 3.0 kg triples its potential energy. Therefore, it increased by a factor of 3.

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