PHYS IC S1

TOPIC No14

GRAVITATION

Contents: Newton’s law of gravitation. Gravitation near Earth’s surface. Gravitation

inside Earth. Gravitational potential energy.
Reference: D. Halliday, R. Resnick. Fundamentals of Physics, Wiley Publication, 2014,
pp.354-356, 359-373.

The law of universal gravitation

Newton’s law of universal gravitation states that every particle in the Universe
attracts every other particle with a force that is directly proportional to the product
of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them
𝑚1 𝑚2
𝐹=𝐺 (8.1)
𝑟2

where 𝑚1 and 𝑚2 are the masses of the particles, r is the distance between them, and
𝐺(= 6.67 × 10−11 𝑁 ∙ 𝑚2 ⁄𝑘𝑔2 )is the gravitational constant.

In a vector form this law is written as follows

𝑚 𝑚
𝐹⃗ = 𝐺 1 3 2 𝑟⃗ (8.2)
𝑟

or

𝑚 𝑚 𝑟⃗
𝐹⃗ = 𝐺 1 2 2 ⃗ . (8.3)
𝑟 𝑟

1
 Figure 8.1. The two particles, whose masses are 𝑚1 and 𝑚2 , are attracted

by gravitational forces +𝐹⃗ and −𝐹⃗ .

To see the main features of Newton’s law of universal gravitation, look at the two
particles in Fig. 8.1. They have masses 𝑚1 and 𝑚2 and are separated by a distance
𝑟. In the Fig. 8.1, it is assumed that a force pointing to the right is positive. The
gravitational forces point along the line joining the particles and are

+𝐹⃗ , the gravitational force exerted on particle 1 by particle 2

−𝐹⃗ , the gravitational force exerted on particle 2 by particle 1.

These two forces have equal magnitudes and opposite directions. They act on
different bodies, causing them to be mutually attracted.

Figure 8.2. The gravitational force between the Earth and the Moon.

2
 The gravitational force that each uniform sphere of matter exerts on the other
is the same as if each sphere were a particle with its mass concentrated at its center.

Figure 8.3. The apple pulls up on Earth just as hard as Earth pulls down on the

apple.

A uniform spherical shell of matter attracts a particle that is outside the shell
as if all the shell’s mass were concentrated at its center.

The intensity of the gravitational field

The quantity that is defined as

𝐹⃗𝑔 ⃗⃗
𝑀 𝑅
𝑎⃗𝑔 = =𝐺 (8.4)
𝑚 𝑅2 𝑅

is called the intensity of the gravitational field of the body with the mass 𝑀 or the
gravitational acceleration. For the Earth this quantity is
𝑀𝐸 𝑀𝐸
𝑎𝑔 = 𝐺 = 𝐺 (𝑅 (8.5)
𝑟2 𝐸 +ℎ)
2

3
Therefore, it follows that 𝑎𝑔 decreases with increasing altitude. Values of g for the
Earth at various altitudes are listed in Table 8.1. Because an object’s weight is mg,
we see that as 𝑟 → ∞, the weight of the object approaches zero.

Figure. 8.4. The gravitational field vectors.

The gravitational field vectors in the vicinity of a uniform spherical mass such as the
Earth vary in both direction and magnitude (Fig. 8.4 a). The gravitational field
vectors in a small region near the Earth’s surface are uniform in both direction and
magnitude (Fig. 8.4 a).

4
 Table 8.1. Free-fall acceleration g at various altitudes above

the Earth’s surface

If we take into account the rotation of the Earth around its axis,

Thus, the measured free-fall acceleration is less than the gravitational acceleration
because of Earth’s rotation.

The gravitational acceleration 𝑎𝑔 of a particle (of mass m) is due solely to the

gravitational force acting on it.

Free-Fall Acceleration and Weight

Because Earth’s mass is not distributed uniformly, because the planet is not
perfectly spherical, and because it rotates, the actual free-fall acceleration 𝑔⃗ of a

5
particle near Earth differs slightly from the gravitational acceleration 𝑎⃗𝑔 and the
particle’s weight (equal to mg) differs from the magnitude of the gravitational force
on it as calculated by Newton’s law of gravitation (Eq. 8.1).

Gravitation within a spherical shell is calculated by the formula

𝐺𝑚𝑀
𝐹= 𝑟 (8.6)
𝑅3

where M is the sphere’s mass and R is its radius.

Gravitational Potential Energy

The gravitational potential energy U(r) of a system of two particles, with masses M
and m and separated by a distance r, is the negative of the work that would be done
by the gravitational force of either particle acting on the other if the separation
between the particles were changed from infinite (very large) to r. This energy is
(gravitational potential energy)
𝐺𝑀𝑚
𝑈= − (8.7)
𝑟

Potential Energy of a System

If a system contains more than two particles, its total gravitational potential energy
U is the sum of the terms representing the potential energies of all the pairs. As an
example, for three particles, of masses 𝑚1 , 𝑚2 , and 𝑚3 ,

6
 𝐺𝑚1 𝑚2 𝐺𝑚1 𝑚3 𝐺𝑚2 𝑚3
𝑈 = −( + + ) (8.8)
𝑟12 𝑟13 𝑟23

The orbital (first) cosmic velocity, the escape (second) cosmic velocity, the space
(third) cosmic velocity.

The orbital (first) cosmic speed

𝐺𝑀 𝑘𝑚
𝑣= √ = √𝑅𝑔 ≃ 7.9 . (8.9)
𝑅 𝑠

Escape (second cosmic) speed

An object will escape the gravitational pull of an astronomical body of mass M and
radius R if the object’s speed near the body’s surface is at least equal to the escape
speed, given by

2𝐺𝑀 𝑘𝑚
𝑣= √ = √2𝑅𝑔 ≃ 11.2 . (8.9)
𝑅 𝑠

The space (third) cosmic velocity

or

7
 Energy in Planetary Motion

When a planet or satellite with mass m moves in a circular orbit with radius r, its
potential energy U and kinetic energy K are given by
𝐺𝑀𝑚 𝐺𝑀𝑚
𝑈= − and 𝐾 = (8.7,8.10)
𝑟 2𝑟

The mechanical energy E = K + U is then

𝐺𝑀𝑚 𝐺𝑀𝑚 𝐺𝑀𝑚 𝐺𝑀𝑚 𝐺𝑀𝑚

E = K + U= + (− )= − =−
2𝑟 𝑟 2𝑟 𝑟 2𝑟

𝐺𝑀𝑚
𝐸= − (8.11)
2𝑟

For an elliptical orbit of semimajor axis a,

𝐺𝑀𝑚
𝐸= − (8.12)
2𝑎

8
9
Figure 8.1. The variation of kinetic energy K, potential energy U, and total energy
E with radius r for a satellite in a circular orbit.

The variation of kinetic energy K, potential energy U, and total energy E with radius
r for a satellite in a circular orbit. For any value of r, the values of U and E are
negative, the value of K is positive, and E!%K.As r:2, all three energy

curves approach a value of zero.

10
11
Figure 8.2. Graph of the gravitational potential energy

12
 Einstein’s View of Gravitation

Einstein pointed out that gravitation and acceleration are equivalent. This principle
of equivalence led him to a theory of gravitation (the general theory of relativity)
that explains gravitational effects in terms of a curvature of space.

𝐹 = 𝑚𝑎 = 𝑚𝑔

𝑀𝑚 𝑀𝑚
𝐹 = 𝐺 (𝑅+ℎ)2 ≈ 𝐺 ℎ≪𝑅 (1)
𝑅2

𝑣2
𝐹=𝑚 (2)
𝑅

𝑣2 𝑀𝑚
𝑚 =𝐺 (3)
𝑅 𝑅2

𝑀
𝑣2 = 𝐺 (4)
𝑅

𝑀
𝑣 = 𝑣𝐼 = √𝐺 (5)
𝑅

13
 𝑀𝑅 𝑀
𝑣𝐼 = √𝐺 = √𝐺 𝑅 = √𝑔𝑅 ≃ 7.9 𝑘𝑚⁄𝑠 (6)
𝑅𝑅 𝑅2

𝑀𝑚
𝐹=𝐺
𝑅2

𝐹 = 𝑚𝑔

𝑀𝑚
𝑚𝑔 = 𝐺
𝑅2

𝑀
𝑔=𝐺
𝑅2

Second (escape)cosmic velocity

𝑚𝑣 2 𝑀𝑚
=𝐺 2 ×𝑅
2 𝑅

𝑚𝑣 2 𝑀𝑚
=𝐺
2 𝑅

𝑣2 𝑀
=𝐺
2 𝑅

14
 𝑀
𝑣 2 = 2𝐺
𝑅

𝑀
𝑣 = 𝑣𝐼𝐼 = √2𝐺
𝑅

𝑣𝐼𝐼 = √2𝑣𝐼 = √2√𝑔𝑅

𝑣𝐼𝐼 = √2 × 7.9 𝑘𝑚⁄𝑠 ≃ 11 𝑘𝑚⁄𝑠

Black hole situation

𝑚𝑣 2 𝑀𝑚
=𝐺
2 𝑅

𝑀
𝑣 = √2𝐺
𝑅

𝑣=𝑐

𝑀
𝑐 = √2𝐺
𝑅

15
 𝑀
𝑐 2 = 2𝐺
𝑅

2𝐺𝑀
𝑅= = 𝑅𝑔 - the Schwarzschild radius
𝑐2

𝑚𝑐 2 𝑀𝑚
=𝐺
2 𝑅

16