Gravitational potential energy = the energy due to an objects

Gravitational energy is the energy of a body when it is taken to a certain height with respect to the earth surface.It is one of the part of potential energy that comes in thr part of the mechanical energy. the work done in taking a body upto a certain height get stored in the body in form of gravtitational potential energy. potential energy is directly proportional to height or altitude upto which the body is taken, mass of the body and gravtational acceleration(9.8m/s^2)So P.E. = mgh

Hope it helps

air exerts forces on falling objects near earth’s surface.

explanation:

the term 'free falls' refer to object that are falling towards the earth, in a situation in which gravity is the only force acting on the object.

for an object in free fall, the acceleration is constant (g, the gravitational acceleration), and so the velocity of the object constantly increases.

for objects near earth's surface, there is always another force acting on the object: the resistance due to the air. this force is opposed to the direction of fall of the object, and it is proportional to the velocity of the object, so as the object falls down, this force increases up to a point when it balances the force of gravity, and the object continues its motion at constant velocity (called terminal velocity). since in this case gravity is not the only force acting on the object, we are not in a situation of free fall.