13 November 2014 59 760 Report

We frequently speak of an object having gained gravitational potential energy when work is done in lifting a mass from a lower elevation to a higher elevation. However, what exactly has physically changed? Where is this gravitational potential energy stored? When a photon propagates from a lower elevation to a higher elevation, we say that it has undergone a gravitational redshift. However, this is entirely due to the gravitational change in the rate of time. Local clocks at the two elevations are running at different rates of time giving the perception of a lower frequency at the higher elevation. The photon appears to have lost energy but there is no change in frequency if adjustments are made for the different clock rates. If an electron is perceived as a point particle with no internal structure, then it is impossible to assign any change in the internal energy of an electron at two different elevations. Therefore, where is gravitational potential energy stored when an electron or other particle is elevated?

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