ForHosting KIT · Developer Utilities

Gravitational potential energy calculator

This gravitational potential energy calculator finds the near-constant-g potential energy of an object when you know its mass, its height relative to a chosen reference level, and the local gravitational acceleration.

● BetaFree · in your browser

Run — free How it works & API

Use it from WebAPIEmailTelegramApp soon

The definition is the closed form PE equals m times g times h, which is the standard introductory model used in mechanics homework, energy conservation problems, and first-order engineering checks. When mass is given in kilograms, g in metres per second squared, and height in metres, the result is reported in joules; any consistent unit triple works the same way. Zero mass or zero height is valid and yields zero potential energy; negative height means the object sits below the reference and produces a negative PE; negative mass is rejected because it has no physical meaning in this model. The engine is fully deterministic arithmetic: no network calls, no sampling, and no date-dependent shortcuts. Use it free in the browser for homework, lab prep, and design checks, or call the API at $0.002 per successful request when you need reproducible PE fixtures in CI, tutoring software, or teaching demos that must not invent floating-point steps by hand.

How to use it

Enter your values in the form above. The tool checks them before calculating and shows the result on the same page.

Check your inputs

Use the labels and units shown next to each field. If something is missing or outside the allowed range, the page points to the field to fix.

Use it again or automate it

Use the browser tool for individual checks and the API when you need the same capability in an automated workflow.

What you can do with it

Get an answer now

Enter one set of values and see the result without building a spreadsheet or script.

Compare scenarios

Change one value at a time and rerun the calculation to understand what affects the result.

Automate repeated work

Use the API when the same calculation needs to run inside your product or workflow.

FAQ

How do I use this capability?

Complete the fields above and run it on this page. The form highlights anything that needs attention.

For developers — API access

Everything on this page is available programmatically. This section is for teams who want to wire it into their own systems; everyone else can just use the tool above.

API endpoint

POSThttps://api.kit.forhosting.com/mech/potential-energy

Prefer to automate it? One authenticated POST creates the task; the result comes back by webhook or a signed link. The same capability also runs here on the web, by email and from Telegram — and soon from our app too.

Call it from your stack

curl -X POST https://api.kit.forhosting.com/mech/potential-energy \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $KIT_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"mass":2,"height":5,"g":9.8}'

const res = await fetch("https://api.kit.forhosting.com/mech/potential-energy", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: {
    "Authorization": `Bearer ${process.env.KIT_KEY}`,
    "Content-Type": "application/json"
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    "mass": 2,
    "height": 5,
    "g": 9.8
  })
});
const { task_id } = await res.json();

import os, requests

res = requests.post(
    "https://api.kit.forhosting.com/mech/potential-energy",
    headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['KIT_KEY']}"},
    json={
    "mass": 2,
    "height": 5,
    "g": 9.8
},
)
task_id = res.json()["task_id"]

<?php
$res = file_get_contents("https://api.kit.forhosting.com/mech/potential-energy", false, stream_context_create([
  "http" => [
    "method"  => "POST",
    "header"  => "Authorization: Bearer " . getenv("KIT_KEY") . "\r\nContent-Type: application/json",
    "content" => '{"mass":2,"height":5,"g":9.8}',
  ],
]));
$task = json_decode($res, true);

body := bytes.NewBufferString(`{"mass":2,"height":5,"g":9.8}`)
req, _ := http.NewRequest("POST", "https://api.kit.forhosting.com/mech/potential-energy", body)
req.Header.Set("Authorization", "Bearer "+os.Getenv("KIT_KEY"))
req.Header.Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
res, _ := http.DefaultClient.Do(req)

Example request

{
  "mass": 2,
  "height": 5,
  "g": 9.8
}

Example response

{
  "task_id": "tsk_a1b2c3d4e5f6a1b2c3d4e5f6",
  "type": "mech.potential_energy",
  "status": "queued",
  "_links": {
    "result": "/tasks/tsk_…/result"
  }
}

The API is asynchronous: the call returns a task_id immediately and the result arrives by webhook. Polling is capped at 1 req/s per task.

Pricing

Per request$0.002

Published price — no tokens, no invented credits. A failed task is never charged.

Limits

`max_abs_mass`	1000000000000000
`max_abs_g`	1000000
`max_abs_height`	1000000000000000

Errors

HTTP	Code	Meaning
`401`	`unauthorized`	Missing or invalid API key.
`402`	`insufficient_balance`	Your balance doesn't cover the task price.
`404`	`unknown_type`	That task type doesn't exist.
`429`	`rate_limited`	Too many requests. Use the webhook instead of polling.

Read the full KIT documentation →

Run — free