As a block slides across the floor, what happens to its potential energy?

When a block slides across the floor, its height relative to a reference point does not change, meaning its gravitational potential energy remains constant throughout the motion. This is due to the fact that potential energy is dependent on the position of an object in a gravitational field. Since the block is sliding horizontally on the floor, there is no change in its vertical position to affect its potential energy, which is defined by the formula U = mgh (where m is mass, g is the acceleration due to gravity, and h is height).

As the block moves across the surface, it may be losing kinetic energy due to friction, but that does not impact its potential energy in this scenario. Therefore, potential energy remains unchanged as the block slides along the floor.