Enter the volume of water (m^3) and the height of water (m) into the calculator to determine the Hydro Potential Energy. 

Hydro Potential Energy Formula

The following equation is used to calculate the Hydro Potential Energy. 

PEh = (V*d)*g*h

Variables:

  • Where PEh is the Hydro Potential Energy (Joules)
  • V is the volume of water (m^3) 
  • h is the height of water (m) 
  • d is the density of water (997 kg/m^3)
  • g is the acceleration due to gravity ( 9.81m/s^2)

To calculate the potential energy of water, multiply the volume, density, and water height together, then multiply by the acceleration due to gravity.

How to Calculate Hydro Potential Energy?

The following two example problems outline the steps and information needed in order to calculate the Hydro Potential Energy.

Example Problem #1:

  1. First, determine the volume of water (m^3). In this example, the volume of water (m^3) is measured to be 50.
  2. Next, determine the height of water (m). For this problem, the height of water (m) is calculated to be 4124.
  3. Finally, calculate the Hydro Potential Energy using the formula above: 

PEh = (V*d)*g*h

Inserting the values from above and solving the equation with the imputed values gives: 

PEh = (50*997)*9.81*4124 = 2016753534 (Joules)

Example Problem #2: 

Using the same process as example problem 1, we first define the needed variables outlined by the formula. In this case, the values are provide as: 

volume of water (m^3) = 40

height of water (m) = 310

Entering these values into the formula or calculator above gives us: 

PEh = (40*997)*9.81*310 = 121279068 (Joules)