PHYSICS –PHY101 VU

Summary of Lecture 21 – GRAVITY

1. Newton's law of universal gravitation states that the force of attraction between two
mm
masses m1 and m2 is F ∝ 1 2 2 and is directed along the line joining the two bodies.
r
mm
Putting in a constant of proportionality, F = G 1 2 2 . Now let's be a bit careful of the
r
G
direction of the force. Looking at the diagram below, F21 = Force on m2 by m1 ,
G G G G G
F12 = Force on m1 by m2 , F12 = F21 = F . By Newton's Third Law, F12 = − F21.
G G
m1 F12 F21 m2

2. The gravitational constant G is a very small quantity and

needs a very sensitive experiment. An early experiment to
find G involved suspending two masses and measuring the
attractive force. From the figure you can see that the
⎛ GmM ⎞ L
is gravitational torque is 2 ⎜ 2 ⎟ . A thread provides
⎝ r ⎠2
the restoring torque κθ . The deflection θ can be measured
Quartz fiber
by observing the beam of the light reflected from the small m
GmML mirror M
mirror. In equilibrium the torques balance, = κθ . M
2
r
κθ r 2
m
Hence G = . How to find κ ? It can be found from
GmML θ
I 4π 2 I scale
observing the period of free oscillations, T = 2π ⇒κ = 2
κ T
2
mL
with I = . The modern value is G = 6.67259 × 10−11 N .m 2 / kg 2
2

3. The magnitude of the force with which the Earth attracts a body of mass m towards its
GmM E
centre is F = , where RE = 6400 km is the radius of the Earth and M E is the mass.
RE 2
The material does not matter - iron, wood, leather, etc. all feel the force in proportion to
GmM E
their masses. If the body can fall freely, then it will accelerate. So, F = mg = .
RE 2

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We measure g, the acceleration due to gravity, as 9.8m/s 2 . From this we can immediately
gRE 2
deduce the Earth's mass: M E = = 5.97 × 10 24 kg. What a remarkable achievement!
G
4
We can do still more: the volume of the Earth = VE = π RE 3 = 1.08 × 1021 m3 . Hence the]
3
V
density of the Earth = ρ E = E = 5462kg m −3 . So this is 5.462 times greater than the
ME
density of water and tells us that the earth must be quite dense inside.

4. The gravitational potential is an important quantity. It is the work done in moving a unit
GM
mass from infinity to a given point R, and equals V (r ) = − .
R
0 ∞
Proof: Conservation of energy says, dV = − Fdr ⇒ ∫
V ( R)
dV = − ∫ drF (r )
R
∞ ∞
dr ⎡1⎤ GM
Integrate both sides: 0 − V ( R ) = GM ∫ = −GM ⎢ ⎥ , ∴V ( R ) = −
⎣ r ⎦R
2
R
r R

5. Using the above formula, let us calculate the change in potential energy ΔU when we raise
a body of mass m to a height h above the Earth's surface.

ΔU = GMm ⎜
⎛ 1
−
1 ⎞
⎝ RE RE + h ⎠
⎛
⎟ = GMm ⎜1 −
1
⎝ 1 + h / RE ⎠
⎞
⎟ = GMm 1 − (1 + h / RE ) (
−1
)
Now suppose that the distance h is much smaller than the Earth's radius. So, for h  RE ,
⎛ GM ⎞
(1 + h / RE ) = 1 − h / RE . So we find ΔU = GMm (1 − (1 − h / RE ) ) = m ⎜
−1
⎟ h = mgh.
⎝ RE ⎠

6. We can use the expression for potential energy and the law of conservation of energy to
find the minimum velocity needed for a body to escape the Earth' gravity. Far away from
the Earth, the potential energy is zero, and the smallest value for the kinetic energy is
1 GMm
zero. Requiring that ( KE + PE )r = R = ( KE + PE )r =∞ gives mv e2 − = 0 + 0. From
2 RE
2GM
this, v e = = 2 gRE . Putting in some numbers we find that for the Earth ve = 11.2 km/s
RE
and for the Sun v e = 618km/s. For a Black Hole, the escape velocity is so high that nothing
can escape, even if it could move with the speed of light! (Nevertheless, Black Holes can be
observed because when matter falls into them, a certain kind of radiation is emitted.)

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7. Satellite problems: A satellite is in circular orbit over the Earth's surface. The condition
mv o2 GMm GM
for equilibrium, = 2 ⇒ vo = . If RE is the Earth's radius, and h is the
r r r
GM
height of the satellite above the ground, then r = RE + h. Hence, vo = . For
RE + h
GM
h << RE , we can approximate vo = = gRE . We can easily calculate the time
RE
2π 2π r r 2π 3 / 2
for one complete revolution, T = = = 2π r = r . This gives the
ω vo GM GM
4π 2 3
important result, observed by Kepler nearly 3 centuries ago that T 2 = r , or T 2 ∝ r 3 .
GM

8. What is the total energy of a satellite moving in a circular orbit around the earth? Clearly,
it has two parts, kinetic and potential. Remeber that the potential energy is negative. So,
1 2 GM E m GM
E = KE + PE = mvo − . But, vo2 = as we saw earlier and therefore,
2 r r
1 GMm GMm 1 GMm
E= − =− . Note that the magnitude of the potential energy is
2 r r 2 r
larger than the kinetic energy. If it wasn't, the satellite would not be bound to the Earth!

9. A famous discovery of the astronomer Johann Kepler some 300 years ago says that the
line joining a planet to the Sun sweeps out equal areas in equal intervals of time. We can
easily see this from the conservation of angular momentum. Call Δ A the area swept out
1
in time Δ t. Then from the diagram below you can see that Δ A = r ( r Δθ ) . Divide this by
2
Δ t and then take the limit where it becomes very small,
dA ΔA 1 2 ⎛ Δθ ⎞ 1 2 L
= lim = r ⎜ lim ⎟ = rω= .
dt Δt → 0 Δ t 2 ⎝ Δt → 0 Δt ⎠ 2 2m
Since L is a constant, we have proved one of Kepler's laws (with so little effort)!
Δθ
r Δθ

M r ΔA
θ

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