duke wrote:the above gives results in what units? this is potential energy right? the above comes out to 23520 somethings. can this be put into kilowats or horse power so i can understand its size?
The mass (200 kg) times an acceleration (of gravity in this case) is a force in newtons, 1960 N. If you multiply by the distance it acts over, you get newton-meters, or joules.
No, you can't put it in watts or horsepower because those are powers, not energies. (But a joule is 1 watt for 1 second)
In the "english" system, potential energy would be measured in foot-pounds, so I suppose you could convert. 550 foot pounds per second is 1 HP.