Complete the statement. Assume that the scoop of ice cream's mass did not change.
The gravitational potential energy stored between the scoop of ice cream and Earth () as the ice cream dropped toward the ground.
A: stayed the same
B: increased
C: decreased
Think about how the distance between the scoop of ice cream and the center of Earth changed.
The ground was lower than the ice cream cone. As the scoop of ice cream fell toward the ground, the distance between the scoop and the center of Earth decreased. So, the gravitational potential energy stored between the scoop of ice cream and Earth decreased as the ice cream dropped toward the ground.