Complete the statement. Assume that the ball's mass did not change.
The gravitational potential energy stored between the ball and Earth () as the ball rolled along the lane.
A: decreased
B: increased
C: stayed the same
Think about how the distance between the ball and the center of Earth changed.
Because the bowling lane was flat, each point on the lane was the same distance from the center of Earth. As the ball rolled along the lane, the distance between the ball and the center of Earth stayed the same. So, the gravitational potential energy stored between the ball and Earth stayed the same as the ball rolled along the lane.