In a frictionless environment, when an object rolls down an incline, what happens to its potential energy?

When an object rolls down an incline in a frictionless environment, its potential energy decreases as its height decreases. This potential energy is converted into kinetic energy, which is the energy of motion. As the object descends, the gravitational potential energy it had at the top of the incline is transformed into both translational kinetic energy (due to the object's movement down the incline) and rotational kinetic energy (due to the rolling motion).

The principle of conservation of energy states that in a closed system, energy cannot be created or destroyed, but can only change forms. In this scenario, the total mechanical energy of the object remains constant; thus, the potential energy lost is equal to the kinetic energy gained as the object rolls down. Therefore, it is accurate to say that the potential energy converts entirely to kinetic energy during the descent.