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Question

Statement 1: Potential energy depends on the choice of reference point.

Statement 2: Change in potential energy depends upon the choice of reference point.


A
Statement 1 is true, statement 2 is true.
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B
Statement 1 is true, statement 2 is false.
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C
Statement 1 is false, statement 2 is true.
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D
Statement 1 is false, statement 2 is false.
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Solution

The correct option is B Statement 1 is true, statement 2 is false.
Change in potential energy is the difference between potential energies of a body at two points. The reference does not matter here since it is the same for both points (think about that).
But when talking about the potential or potential energy for a single point, it matters where the reference point is.
Now for electrostatics and gravitation, we generally define zero potential as infinity.

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