GRAVITATION
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GIGGLES INTERNATIONAL
10.12.2018
Newton’s law of gravitation
• Newton ‘s law of gravitation states that the force of attraction
between particles is directly proportional to their mass and
inversely proportional to the square of distance apart.
M F F m
• The two forces in the diagram are action-reaction pair because each
force is acting on the object by the other object and they are of the same
type of force.
• In that case, when Earth pulls you down, why did you not pull Earth up?
• You did! But the mass of Earth is relatively much bigger than your mass
and hence its acceleration towards you is relatively much smaller.
The law of gravity applies to
all objects small or large.
• where The negative sign shows that the force is an attractive force.
• Eg 1: Determine the force of gravitational attraction between the
earth 5.98 x 1024 kg and a 70 kg boy who is standing at sea level, a
distance of 6.38 x 106 m from earth's center.
• m1 = 5.98 x 1024 kg, m2 = 70 kg, r = 6.38 x 106 m,
• G = 6.6726 x 10-11N-m2/kg2
The Gravitational Field Strength
• During the 19th century, the notion of the “field” entered physics (via
Michael Faraday).
• Objects with mass create an invisible disturbance in the space
around them that is felt by other massive objects - this is a
gravitational field. Gravitational Field
• Every object sets up a gravitational field around itself due to its mass.
When two objects enter each other’s gravitational fields, they will be
attracted towards each other. Hence, a gravitational field is a region
of space in which any object lies in it experiences a gravitational force
towards the object that creates the field, due to its mass. (magnetic
fields and electric fields are examples .)
• So, since the Sun is very massive, it creates an intense
gravitational field around it, and the Earth responds to the field.
• Definition: The gravitational field strength, g at a particular
point in the gravitational field is defined as gravitational
force per unit mass acting on a small test mass placed at
that point.
• Gravitational Field Strength, g = F/m
• Why must the test mass be small?
The test mass must be physically small so that it does not distort or
change the gravitational field generated by the source mass.
Gravitational Field Strength
• Near the surface of the Earth, g = F/m = 9.8 N/kg = 9.8 m/s2.
• In general, g = GM/r2, where M is the mass of the object creating the
field, r is the distance from the object’s center, and G = 6.67 x10-11
Nm2/kg2.
If g is the strength of the gravitational field at some point, then the
gravitational force on an object of mass m at that point is Fgrav =
mg. The gravitational field strength of Earth is
approximately constant at 9.81 (in N/kg), near its surface.
It is also known as the acceleration of free fall or the
1. A point mass produces a gravitational field strength of 3.4
x 10-2 N/kg at a distance of 4.9 x 102 m away. What is the
mass of the point?
Ans: g = Gm/r2 Thus, m = gr2/G = 1.2 x 1014 kg
2. Estimate the gravitational field strength at the surface of
an interstellar body whose density is 5.5 x 103kg/m3 and
radius is 6.4 x 106 m.
Ans : g = Gm/r2 and m = density x volume = D x V = D x 4/3 x p x r3 Substitute for
m in the field equation above.
Thus, g = 4pGDr/3 = 4 x p x 6.67 x 10-11 x 5.5 x 103 x 6.4 x 106/3 = 9.8 N/kg
r
•Consider a point X in the field set up by mass M located at a distance r
from the centre of the mass M, the magnitude of the gravitational field
strength at point X due to mass M is , g = GM/r2
• Note:
1) Gravitational field strength, g is a vector quantity, and it is in the
same direction as the gravitational force.
2) The gravitational field strength, g of the source mass, M is
independent of the mass of the test mass.
3) As distance r of the test mass from source mass increases, g
decreases in an inverse square law manner. Hence gravitational field is
also known as an inverse square law field.
G is the Universal Gravitational Constant.
It is a scalar quantity with dimension
g is the acceleration due to gravity .
It is a vector quantity with dimension
Gravitational field is invisible and is represented by
imaginary field lines. The Earth’s gravitational field near to
Earth’s Surface looks like…
• The gravitational field near Earth’s surface is uniform.
• The closer the field lines, the stronger the field strength.
• The field lines should be drawn parallel to each other and of equal
The Earth’s gravitational field over large
distances from the Earth
• The gravitational field around Earth is non uniform.
• The field lines should be drawn radially pointing towards
the centre of Earth.
• The field lines get further apart
(field strength decreases) as it gets
further from Earth.
Gravitational Field Inside a Planet
• If you are located a distance r from the center of a planet:
• all of the planet’s mass inside a sphere of radius r pulls you toward
the center of the planet.
• All of the planet’s mass outside a sphere of radius r exerts no net
gravitational force on you.
• The blue-shaded part
of the planet pulls you
toward point C.
• The grey-shaded part
of the planet does
not pull you at all.
Gravitational Field Inside a Planet
• Half way to the
center of the planet,
g has one-half of its
surface value.
• At the center of the
planet, g = 0 N/kg.
The variation of the acceleration due to gravity g’ with
distance r from the centre of the Earth is illustrated by the
graph above. To prove, refer notes
V
Definition: The gravitational potential, , at a point in
the gravitational field is defined as
1)The work done or Energy released is negative. The work to be done or E absorbed is positive.
2) Gravitational potential is a scalar quantity. (i.e. it has no direction and a negative V means it is
less than zero).
3) This expression implies that V is also always negative (less than zero) and by convention, the
gravitational potential at infinity is also taken to be zero (maximum V value).
4) Similar to gravitational field strength, gravitational potential is also independent of the mass
of the test mass.
5) As distance r of the point mass from source mass increases, V increases.
6) units: J kg-1
EXAMPLE :
A planet of mass M and radius r rotates about its axis
with an angular velocity large enough to substances on
its equator just able to stay on its surface . Find in
terms of M , r and G the period of rotation of the
planet.
Satellite
Motion
in Circular
Orbits
An object projected horizontally
near the Earth’s surface follows a
parabolic trajectory as shown on
the right. As the speed of
projection increases, the object
will reach a speed where the
trajectory follows the curvature of Earth
the Earth’s surface. If air resistance
is negligible, the object will orbit
round the Earth continuously and
will never hit the Earth’s surface.
• Many man-made satellites move in circular orbits around
the Earth. The first man-made satellite, the “Sputnik 1”,
was launched by Soviet Union in 1957. Since then,
hundreds of satellites have been launched into orbit
around the Earth. The only force acting on the satellite in a
circular orbit is the Earth’s gravitational force, which is
directed towards the centre of Earth (also the centre of its
circular orbit). Since the satellite moves perpendicular to
the gravitational force, its magnitude of velocity remains
constant while its direction changes. This means that the
satellite is travelling in a uniform circular motion with
constant distance from the satellite to the centre of Earth.
m
v
where v denotes the orbiting speed of satellite.
The above formula can be used to calculate the speed required for any
object to orbit around a planet of mass M at a constant distance r.
What will happen to the orbiting satellite if it starts to
slow down?
The gravitational force will be higher than the required
centripetal force to keep it in the uniform circular motion.
Hence the satellite will be pulled closer towards Earth and
move in a smaller circular orbit.
Escape Velocity
• If we throw a ball into air, it rises to a certain height and falls back. If we
throw it with a greater velocity , it will rise higher before falling down. If
we throw with sufficient velocity , it will never come back.i.e. It will
escape from the gravitational pull of the earth.
• The minimum velocity required to do so is called escape velocity.
• When a rocket is launched from the earth’s surface , it can escape from
gravitational pull of the earth if it has sufficient energy to travel to
infinity.
• The energy required comes from the kinetic energy when the rocket is
launched.
•Consider the earth to be a sphere of mass M and radius R with centre O.
Expression for escape velocity Using the principle of
conservation of energy
Kinetic energy required by the body on the Earth’s surface =
Gain in gravitational potential energy of the body when it
moves from the Earth ‘s surface to infinity.
why the moon has no atmosphere?
It is because the speeds of the air particles are higher than their escape
speeds and hence they can escape from the moon surface.
Due to the
small value of g. The escape velocity in the
moon is 2.38 km/s . The air molecules have
thermal velocity is greater than the escape
velocity and therefore air molecules escape.
THANK YOU!
