RANKERS ACADEMY

8. Gravitation

PHYSICS BY ER. VINOD GANGWAR 1

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Gravitation
Newton’s Law of Gravitation: Every particle attracts every other particle with force that is proportional to the product of
the masses and inversely proportional to the square of their separation and acts along the straight line joining them.
m m 
F  G 1 2 2   
m2
 r 
m1 F F

G is a universal constant, called the constant of gravitation. r

G  6.67  10 11 N m 2 Kg 2 Newton’s law of universal gravitation
1 3 2
The dimensional formula for G is [M L T ]
 The gravitational force is the weakest known force of nature.
 The value of G is the same for two particles, two celestial objects and two terrestrial objects.
 A spherical shell or sphere of matter attracts a particle that is outside the shell as if all the shell’s mass were
concentrated at its centre.
 The gravitational force is a conservative and central force.
 Unlike the electrostatic force, it is independent of the medium between the particles.
 A uniform shell of matter exerts no gravitational force on a particle located inside it. It is a gravitational shield for

 
particles within it.
The net gravitational force on a particle due to one or more particles is determined using the principle of
superposition.
 The gravitational force on a particle would first increase slightly, eventually reach a maximum and finally decrease
to zero at the centre of the earth as the particle is lowered down the centre. The reason for the initial increase is the
predominance of the effect of decrease in r over that of the shell of the earth’s crust that lies outside the radial
position of the particle. As the centre is approached, the effect of the outer shell predominates.
 If the earth were uniformly dense, the gravitational force would decrease to zero as the particle is lowered to the
centre of the earth.

Newton’s law in vector form

  Gm m    Gm m   
F 21   1 2
 r 21   1 2
 rˆ m1 F12 r̂21 F21 m2
 r 3
  r 2  21
 21   21 
 
where F 12  force exerted on particle of mass m2 by particle of r 21
mass m1
 
F12   F 21

r 21  position vector of m2 relative to m1

r̂21  unit vector in the direction of r 21
Gravity:It is the term used to describe the force on a body near the surface of a celestial body. The earth’s gravity is
given by
GMm
F where M  mass of the earth, R  average radius of the earth
(R  h ) 2
h  height of a body of mass m above the surface of the earth.
GM
Acceleration due to gravity (g): It is the acceleration of a body due to gravity. On the surface of the earth g 
R2
4
In terms of density  , g   GR
3

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 The value of g is independent of the mass of the body.
 In the absence of air resistance, heavy and light bodies released from the same height reach the ground
simultaneously.
3g
 The average density of the earth is given by  

.
4GR
 Acceleration due to gravity on the surface of the moon is about one-fifth of that on the surface of the
earth.
g R
 %  2 100 (At surface only)
g R

Variation of g
(i) Due to altitude: Acceleration due to gravity at a height ‘h’ above surface of earth is
GM g
gh  
(R  h) 2
 h
2

 1  
 R
 2h 
g h  g 1   (for h << R) R  radius of earth
 R
Thus g decreases with altitude.
 g  gh  2h
 % decrease in the value of g    x 100  x 100
 g  R

(ii) Due to depth: Acceleration due to gravity at a depth ‘d’ below the surface of earth is
 d
gd  g 1   for (d<<R)
 R
at d = R, i.e., centre of earth
gd = 0
 g decreases with depth
 g  gd  d
 % decrease in the value of g    x 100  x 100
 g  R
(iii) Due to rotation of earth: Acceleration due to gravity at a latitude  is given by
g= g  R2 cos2  angular velocity of earth

(a) At poles:  
2

 g p  g  R2 cos = gmax
2
Thus g is maximum at poles.
(b) At equator:  = 0
 geq = g  R2 cos 0
= g  R2 = gmin
(c) If earth stops rotating about its axis, the value of g at the equator will increase by 0.38%, but at
poles it remains constant.
(d) If angular speed () increases by 17 times present value, there will be weightlessness on the
equator. But g at the poles do not change. Earth’s duration of day reduces to 84 minutes.
(iv) Due to nonspherical shape of earth
1
Polar radius (Rp) > equatorial radius and g  2
R
Value of g increases from poles to radius.
g is maximum at poles and minimum at non spherical shape of earth.

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 Latitude is the angle made by the line joining the centre of the earth and a point on the surface of the
earth with the equator.
 gp  geq  0.034m/s2
R eq  Rp  21km
 
 The weight of an object decreases with altitude as well as depth. On the other hand, it increases with
latitude.
 The free-fall acceleration g measured on the equator of the real, rotating earth is slightly, less than the
gravitational acceleration (a g) due strictly to the gravitational force ag  g  0.034 m s 2 .

Gravitational field and potential

Gravitational field
The strength of a gravitational field at any point is defined as the gravitational force experienced by unit
mass placed at that point.
If F is the force acting on a mass m at a point, the gravitational field at that point is
F
I . or F = mI … (1)
m
Gravitational field due to a point mass at a distance ‘r’ is given by
F GM GM
I   2 rˆ Or I  … (2)
m r r2
The gravitational field at a point due to an object is inversely proportional to its distance from the object and it is
a vector directed towards the object. SI unit of gravitational field is N kg1.
The following table gives intensity of field due to various objects.
Object Position Field intensity Graphical variation
1. Point mass At a distance r from it GM
r2

2. Uniform ring of At a point on its axis at a distance GMr

radius a r from center
(a  r 2 ) 3 / 2
2

3. Uniform thin At a distance r outside the shell GM

spherical shell
of radius a r2
At a distance r inside the shell Zero

4. Uniform solid sphere At a distance r outside the sphere GM

of radius a
r2
At a distance r inside the sphere GMr
a3

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Gravitational potential
Gravitational potential at a point in a gravitational field of a body is defined as the amount of work done in bringing
a body of unit mass from infinity to that point without changing its kinetic energy.
Wp
Gravitational potential, Vp 
m
Gravitational potential at a point due to a point mass
Let P be a point at a distance r, along the x-axis, from a point mass M kept at the origin O.

By definition of potential given earlier, the potential at the point P is

GM
Vp   … (3)
r
Gravitational Potential due to various masses
Let m1, m2, m3 are at a distance r1, r2, r3 respectively from point P then potential of point P is given by
m m m 
VG 1  2  3
r
 1 r2 r3 

The following table gives potential due to various regular bodies.

Body Position Potential

At a point on its axis at a
 GM
1. Uniform ring of radius a distance r from its
a2  r2
center
At a distance r from its
GM
center such that r  
r
Uniform thin spherical shell of a
2.
radius a At a distance r from its
GM
center such that r < 
a
a
At a distance r from its
GM
center such that r  
r
a
3. Uniform solid sphere of radius a
At a distance r from its
GM
center such that r <  (3a2 r2)
2a 3
a

Gravitational potential energy

The concept of potential energy is already introduced. The potential energy of a system corresponding to a
f
 

conservative force is defined as Uf Ui =  F.d r
i

The change in the potential energy of a system is equal to the negative of the work done by the internal
conservative forces.
For the small displacements of a body near the earth’s surface, we have used the equation U f  Ui = mgh

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But the idea of gravitational potential energy is not confined to earth-particle system. In general, for a two particle
system, we can write
r2
f
 Gm 1 m 2 1 1 

UfUi =  F.dr = 
i r1
 r 2
dr = Gm1m2   
 r1 r2 
We choose gravitational potential energy of this system equal to zero when the separation between the particles is
Gm 1 m 2
infinity. Then potential energy of the system for any separation r is U(r) = 
r
For a system of n particles, the potential energy is the sum of the potential energy of every pair of particles in the
system. In other words, the potential energy is additive.
 At any place in gravitational field, gravitation potential is V, then the gravitational potential energy of a
mass ‘m’ at that place will be U  mV
 The gravitational potential energy for a system of particles (say m1, m2, m3 and m4) is given by
m m m m m m m m m m m m 
U  G  4 3  4 2  4 1  3 2  3 1  2 1
 r43 r42 r41 r32 r31 r21 
 Gravitational Potential Energy of a Body on Earth’s Surface
  U
GM m
R
  mgR

mgh
 Change in Potential Energy, U 
h
1
R
v2
 Maximum height attained by a particle when projected with velocity ‘v’, h  .
v2
2g 
R

Negative potential energy indicates that the gravitational force is attractive. Kinetic energy is always
 positive. But potential energy can either be positive or negative. As long as the total energy (KE +
PE) is negative, the object is bound within the system.
Earth’s gravitational field
The gravitational force on a particle of mass m held at a distance h from the surface of the earth is
GMm
F , towards the centre of the earth.
(R  h ) 2
F GM
Hence gravitational field produced at a height h is f G   , towards the earth.
m (R  h ) 2
GM
At the surface of the earth, f G  2 , … (5)
R
towards the centre of the earth. We see that the gravitational field due to earth
is numerically equal to the acceleration due to gravity of the earth. The
variation of gravitational field due to earth with distance x from its centre is
shown in the figure.
GM
Gravitational potential due to earth at a height h is V  
Rh
GM  GM 
At the surface V    gr  g  2  … (6)
R  R 
For convenience in special cases potential at the surface is taken to be zero. Anyhow it is only the difference in
potential is that significant.

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As the height above the surface increases potential increases and the gravitational field is in the direction of
dV
decreasing potential, that is towards the surface. I   . … (7)
dr
Gravitational field due to a spherical shell at any point inside it is zero. Potential is constant equal to
GM  dV 


at all points on it. Hence gravitational field due to a shell is zero   0  . However, even
R  dr 
inside the spherical shell there will be gravitational field due to other objects. There is no
gravitational shielding.

Relation between Gravitational Field and Potential

Gravitation field at any point is equal to the negative gradient of potential at that point.
dV
i.e. I   .
dr
Weightlessness
The gravitational force W = mg acting on an object due to the gravitational attraction of the earth is called its
weight. Generally the normal force experienced by human beings when supported by a surface is perceived as their
weight. In inertial frames, normal force and the weight being equal they perceive their true weight. But in a non-
inertial frame, the normal force is not equal to the weight and therefore they perceive apparent weight. In such
frames the normal force can be even zero. Correspondingly the apparent weight will also be zero. Such a state is
called weightlessness. Normal force on the objects and astronauts inside the satellites is zero. Therefore, the objects
and astronauts inside an orbiting satellite are found floating within the satellite. That is they are in weightlessness
condition.
Inertial and gravitational mass
(a) Inertial mass: The mass of an object is that property of the object that causes it to resist a change in its velocity.

 F  m a , is often called, for this reason, the inertial mass.

The mass that appears in Newton’s second law,
(b) Gravitational mass:The mass of an object is that property of the object that causes it to be attracted to another
object by the gravitational force.
Gm 1m 2
The mass that appears in Newton’s law of gravitation, F  , is often called, for this reason, the gravitational
r2
mass.
(c) It is obvious that mass characterisedtwo different properties of matter. The inertial mass of an object is a measure
of its resistance to change of velocity. For example, the difficulty one encountersin stopping a runaway cart has
nothing to do with its gravitational mass. The gravitational mass is a measure of its attraction to other objects in its
environment. For example, the effort one expends in holding a book has nothing to do with its inertial mass.
Experiments show that the inertial mass mi object is proportional to its gravitational mass mg and the units are so
chosen that mi = mg
Satellite
(a) A satellite is a celestial object rotating around a planet. For example, the moon is the satellite of the earth.
(b) An artificial satellite is one that is made to rotate around the earth. There are hundreds of artificial satellites.
(c) Orbital speed ( v 0 ) : It is the speed of a satellite around the earth.
GM gR 2
v0  
r ( R  h)
where r  radius of the orbit of the satellite , h  height above the surface of the earth
R  average radius of the earth.

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r3 r Rh R
Its period of rotation is T  2  2  2 .If h << R, we can write T  2  84 min
GM g g g
 Orbital velocity is independent of mass of satellite
 Orbital velocity depends upon the mass of the earth/ planet around which it is orbiting
 When a satellite is orbiting very close to the surface of earth h << R, then
0 = R g / R  g R  7.92 kms1

  T 
2 4 2 3
GM
r i.e. T 2  r3
1/3
 T 2 R2 g 
 Altitude or height of satellite above earth’s surface h   2 
R
 4 
 For Geo stationary satellite, T = 24 hours and h = 32000 kms
1/2
 Angular momentum of satellite, L = mvr  mr GM / r  m2GM r 

(d) Energy of a satellite

Consider a satellite of mass m in an orbit of radius r.
mv 2 GMm
We have, the centripetal force  2
r r
1 GMm
 Kinetic energy is K  mv 2  … (1)
2 2r
GMm
Potential energy U   … (2)
r
U = 2K
GMm  1  GMm
Total energy of the satellite E = K + U =   1   … (3)
r 2  2r
GMm mgR
Close to the earth, E   
2R 2
As height increases, the kinetic energy decreases, potential energy increases.
(e) Binding Energy of a satellite
The energy required to remove the satellite from its orbit around the earth to infinity is called Binding energy of
the satellite. Binding Energy is equal to negative value of total mechanical energy of a satellite in its orbit.
GM m
Thus Binding energy, B.E. =  E 
2r
U
 K=    E  B.E.
2



 The energy needed to establish the satellite into its orbit
E = E - Ei
GM m  GM m  GMm GMm GMm (R  2h)
      2 (R  h)  R  2R (R  h)
2r  R 

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(f) Escape velocity
The minimum velocity with which an object must be projected from the earth’s surface so that it escapes from the
earth’s gravitational attraction is called escape velocity.
2GM
It is given by ve   2gR
R
GM
where g = is the acceleration due to gravity at the surface of the earth.
R2
The escape velocity from earth’s surface is 11.2 km s–1.
 ve  2v0
 The value of escape velocity does not depend upon the mass of the projected body; instead it depends
on the mass and radius of the planet from which it is being projected.


There is no atmosphere on the planets where the root-mean square velocities more than the escape
velocity.
 The value of escape velocity does not depend on the angle and direction of projecting instead it depends
on density, mass and acceleration due to gravity of the planet.

Trajectory of a body projected from point P along PQ direction with different initial velocities
 GM 
Let a body the projected from point P with velocity  in the direction PQ. Suppose, v0 = orbital speed   at A and ve
 r 
 2 GM 
=   escape velocity at A. For different values of  the paths are different. Here, are the possible cases:
 r 

(a) If v = 0 path is a straight line from P to O.

(b) If 0 < v < v0, path is an ellipse with centre O of the earth as a focus and point of projection is the farthest point.
(c) If v = v0, path is a circle with O as the centre.
(d) If v0 < v < ve, path is again an ellipse with O as a focus and point of projection is the shortest point.
(e) If v = ve, body escapes from the gravitational pull of the earth and path is parabola. Its velocity at infinity becomes
zero.
(f) If v > ve, body again escapes and moves in space with some velocity but now the path is a hyperbola. Its velocity (v')

at infinity is given as v'= v  ve .

2 2

Black hole: In the final stages of a massive star it consists of only attractive gravitational forces acting on its
particles. Hence it continues to contract in size, increasing the density of matter in it. The negative
GM
potential  and hence escape velocity increases. When the velocity becomes equal to the speed of

 R
light c, light also cannot escape from it. Hence no information about the object can be obtained from
light coming out of it. Hence such an object is called a black hole. The maximum radius R0 of a black
2GM
hole is given by c = .
R0

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(g) Geostationary or synchronous satellite:It is a satellite whose period about the earth is equal to that of the earth about
its polar axis.
A geostationary satellite is about 35,870 km above the equator.
(h) Rocket launching:It is a multistage process. Initially at the lift off, the launching rocket rises vertically to pass
through denser atmospheric layer with least fuel consumption. The first stage rocket falls off at about 60 km height,
and the second stage rocket is fired. The second stage rocket is gradually fitted by the guidance system. When it
reaches the desired height, the tracking system guides the rocket to move horizontally. At this stage, small rockets
are fired to separate the capsule from the second stage rocket and project it into space with the speed required to
follow a predetermined orbit.
Communication and Indian remote sensing (IRS) satellites
The artificial satellites are broadly classified into two types.
(i) Communication satellites and
(ii) Remote sensing satellites.
Communication satellites
1. Communication satellites are mainly used for communication.
2. They link remote areas of earth with telephone and television.
3. With a network of geostationary satellites a radio/TV program can be broadcasted all over the world
simultaneously.
4. These satellites are also used to take photographs of clouds around earth which help in weather forecasting.
5. INSAT series of satellites launched by India are communication satellites.
Remote sensing satellites
1. Remote sensing satellites are used to estimate the natural resources.
2. They are usually placed in low flying polar orbits.
3. These can take photograph of large areas of land. Hence they can be used to study resources such as forest,
river, water resources, mineral deposits, agricultural crops etc.
4. These are also used for military purposes.

Kepler’s laws of planetary motion

Based on the regularities in the motion of the planets, Kepler formulated a set of three laws known as Kepler’s laws
of planetary motion.

I Law (Law of orbits)

All planets move round the Sun in elliptical orbits with Sun at one of the foci.

The closest point is P, called perihelion and the farthest point is A, called aphelion

II Law (Law of areas)

A line joining any planet and the Sun sweeps out equal areas in equal intervals of time.

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Areal velocity: The area swept by the radius vector of a planet around the sun, per unit time is called areal velocity
of the planet. Areal velocity of a planet remains constant.

This law is based on law of conservation of angular momentum. According to it,

m1 r1 = m2 r2
or 1 / 2 = r2 / r1

Here A1, A2 and A3 are equal.

Perigee (AS) = AO – OS = a – ea = a(1 – e)
Apogee (BS) = OB + OS = a + ea = a(1 + e)
VA Vmax (1  e)
 
VP Vmin (1  e)

III Law (Law of periods)

The square of the period of any planet about the Sun is proportional to the cube of the semi-major axis of its
orbit. T2 a3
where T is the period and a is the semi major axis.
If T1 and T2 are the periods of any two planets and r1 and r2 are their mean distances from the Sun, then
T12 r13

T22 r23
Nearer planets move faster. For example the orbital speed of Earth is about 30 km s 1. The speed of Jupiter is about
13.2 km s1 with a period of 11.86 years and that of Saturn is 9.7 km s 1 with a period of 29.46 years.

 If force varies with the distance ‘r’ as

F  rn
T 2  (r)1 n
U  rm
 T 2  (r) 2  m
 Out of planets known before 18th century, Saturn is the slowest. Infact, the Sanskrit name ‘shani’ refers to slowly
 T 29.46 
moving object. Saturn is seen for about 2½ years in each constellation    2.5 years  and passes
 12 12 
through 3 constellations in 7½ years, commonly known as ‘saade-sath’.

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 The geostationary circular orbit (also called the Clarke geosynchronous orbit or Clark Arc, after the
famous science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke who proposed the idea of a communication satellite in
1945) is in the equatorial plane of the earth. Its direction of angular motion coincides with that of the
earth about its polar axis.
 All communication satellites are geostationary. TV programs are relayed live via these satellites
 The escape speed does not depend on the direction of projection
 It can be shown that the escape speed in terms of radius and density of a planet is given by
8G
ve  R   ve  R 
 3
 An orbiting satellite has both potential energy U and kinetic energy K.
GMm GMm GMm
U ; K ; EWK  K
 r 2r 2r
GMm
 It can be shown that E   holds for an elliptical orbit of semi majoraxis‘a’ if r is replaced by a.
2r
So, total mechanical energy of a satellite remains the same if it is put in different elliptical orbits with
the same a, but different values of eccentricity e (including 2000)
 To change the speed and orbit of a satellite, a burn is executed in it. The values of K and E at P, the
location of the burn, are less than their corresponding valuesin the circular orbit.
W = 2K and E = K for a circular orbit do not apply for the new elliptical orbit.

 circular
e0
e1
e1  e 2

e2
P M
elliptical M

Changing the orbit of a

satellite 2a
2a
2a
Three elliptical orbits with the same semimajor axis a, but e
values (e = 0 for circular orbit of r = a)

 Once the satellite is placed in the required orbit by burning small orbital engines, no engines are
required to keep it in the orbit since gravity takes care of that
 Physiological effects in weightlessness : (i) Astronaut’s face becomes puffy. (ii) Astronaut grows a
little temporarily (iii) Cardiovascular system of an astronaut does not need to work hard to pump blood
around the body (iv) There is no preferred direction, no upside down or right side up. All orientations of
an astronaut are equally comfortable.
 Physical effects in weightlessness : (i)A liquid column has no weight, no hydrostatic pressure, no
buoyant effects, no sedimentation. (ii) There is no convection. (iii) A column of air expands on heating
but stays where it is. (iii) Surface tension is much more evident. It is because of surface tension that near
normal dinning is possible in space. Space shuttle straws come with small clamps to pinch them closed
and keep the drinks from climbing.

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