Is 'potential energy' truly relative?

With my current English level, it may hard to me to explain briefly so allow me to add an ilustration... read more

As Mate Ivic said, potential (I assumed mechanical potential) energy is relative since the h in [math]mgh[/math] is a measure of height relative to a point of reference. Lets take a simple experiment. Imagine you stand on a balcony, you have two identical vase. read more

I have read about how potential energy can be seen as the"highering" of an object within a field, be it gravitational, electromagnetic, etc. In a way, an object is lifted to a higher position, and when it eventually falls down again energy is released back. read more

When I say relative, I don't mean anything having to do with relativity. Obviously as you go further from the earth, you have more potential energy but in the equation Ug=mgh if you set the height to 0 there is no potential energy. read more