Potential energy increases when an object is lifted higher because it is directly related to the height of the object above the ground. Think about this: potential energy is stored energy due to an object’s position in a gravitational field. The higher you lift the object, the more work is required to move it against gravity, and this work gets stored as gravitational potential energy.

The formula for gravitational potential energy is:

$PE=m\cdot g\cdot hPE\; =\; m\; \backslash cdot\; g\; \backslash cdot\; h$

PE=m⋅g⋅h

Where:

• PE is potential energy
• m is the mass of the object
• g is the acceleration due to gravity (9.8 m/s² on Earth)
• h is the height above the ground

As you can see, potential energy increases with the height (h). This means, when you lift an object higher, the energy stored due to its position increases, giving it more potential to do work when it falls back down.