why gravitational energy for a system of particles is found by first finding the gravitational energy between individual particles and then adding it up?
Ans) It is a scalar quantity.
Basic laws of physics state that we can directly add or subtract scalar quantities.
If you put a mass of 10 kgs on a mass of 20 kgs, the total mass is 30 kgs.
We add up, because mass is a scalar quantity.
So is PE.