Constants that may be useful:

−11 2 −2
G=6.67 x 10 Nm kg
−1
g=9.8 Nk g at the Earth ’ s surface
4
Mass of the Earth=6.00 x 102 kg
6
Radius of the Earth=6.4 x 10 m
¿
Mass of an electron=9.11 x 10 kg ¿
−27
Mass of a proton=1.67 x 10 kg
−19
Charge of an electron=−1.6 x 10 C
−19
Charge of a proton=1.6 x 10 C

Newton’s law of gravitation

1. Calculate the gravitational force between

(a) A dog of mass 35 kg in the UK and a kangaroo of mass 60 kg on the other side
of the world in Australia.
For this question we need to calculate the gravitational force between two masses, so we
can use Newton’s law of gravitation. We are given the radius of the Earth, but the dog and
the kangaroo are on opposite sides of the Earth, so their separation is 2 x the radius (the
radius is the distance from the centre of a sphere/circle to the edge). The gravitational force
is given by:
GMm
F=
r2

¿
[ ( 6.67 ×10−11 N m2 k g−2 ) ×35 kg × 60 kg ]
2
( ( 6.4 ×10 6 m ) × 2 )
−22
¿ 8.6 ×10 N

(b) Two stars of mass 4.00 x 1033 kg∧6.00 x 1030 kg separated by 3.65 x 1020 m.
The gravitational force from Newton’s law of gravitation is:
GMm
F= 2
r
 ¿
[ ( 6.67 ×10−11 N m2 k g−2 ) × ( 4 ×10 33 kg ) × ( 6 ×10 30 kg ) ]
2
( 3.65 ×10 20m )
13
¿ 1.2 ×10 N

2. Find the radius of Mars, given that the gravitational field strength g at its
surface is 3.73 Nk g−1and its mass is 6.42 x 1023 kg .
To find the radius from the information we are given, we can use the equation for the
gravitational field strength:
GM
g= 2
r
Rearranging this equation to make r the subject:

r=
√[ ]
GM
g
¿√ ¿
6
¿ 3.4 ×10 m

3. The Moon has a mass of 7.35 x 1022 kg and a radius of 1740km.

(a) Calculate the gravitational potential at its surface.
The gravitational potential is given by the equation below. The distance, r, is the radius of
the Moon as the question is asking about the gravitational potential at the surface:
−GM
V=
r

¿
[ ( 6.67 ×10−11 N m2 k g−2 ) × ( 7.35 × 1022 kg ) ]
3
1740 ×10 m

¿−2.818 ×106 Jk g−1

(b) A probe of mass 100 kg is dropped from a height of 1 km onto the Moons
surface. Calculate its change in potential energy.
The change in potential energy of the probe is given by:
change ∈potential energy=change∈potential x mass
First, we need to find the gravitational potential at 1km above the surface of the Moon in
order to calculate the change in gravitational potential as the probe falls:
 −GM
V=
r

¿
[ ( 6.67 ×10−11 N m2 k g−2 ) × ( 7.35 × 1022 kg ) ]
1741 ×103 m

¿−2.816 ×106 Jk g−1

The change in gravitational potential is
−1
V (surface)−V (1 km)=−2000 Jk g
So the change in potential energy is:
−1
∆ P . E .=∆V × m=−2000 Jk g ×100 kg
5
¿−2× 10 J

(c) If all the potential energy lost is converted to kinetic energy, calculate the
speed at which the probe hits the surface.
All of the gravitational potential energy lost as the probe falls to the surface of the Moon is
converted to kinetic energy. So the gain in kinetic energy is equal to the loss of gravitational
energy. The equation for kinetic energy is:
1 2 5
K . E= m v =2 ×10 J
2
Rearranging this for v:

v= [√ [ 2 × ∆ P . E]
m ]
¿
√[ [ 2× ( 2× 105 J ) ]
100 kg
−1
]
¿ 63 m s

4. How fast must a rocket be travelling to take off from the surface of a planet
of mass 5.6 x 102 6 kg and radius 6.0 x 107 m and move off into space?
We can calculte the escape speed using the following equation:

V e=
√[ 2GM
r ]
 ¿
√[ [ 2× ( 6.67 ×10−11 N m2 k g−2 ) ( 5 ×1026 kg ) ]
6 ×10 m
7 ]
¿ 33000 m s−1

Coulomb’s Law
5. Two small plastic spheres each have a mass of 1.0 g and a charge of
−10 nC (nano , n=10 ). They are placed 2.0 cm apart from each other (centre to
−9

centre).
a) What is the magnitude of the electric force on each sphere?
This is a quick application of Coulomb’s Law:

1 q1 q2
F=
[ 4 π ∈0 ] r 2
2
(−10 ×10−9 )
¿ 8.988 ×10 9 2
0.02
−3
¿ 2.25 ×10 N

b) By what factor is the electric force greater than the gravitational force
between the two spheres?
Now we need the gravitational force from Newton’s Law of Gravitation:
Mm
F=G
r2
0.0012
¿ 6.67 ×10−11 2
0.02
−13
¿ 1.67 ×10 N
The electric force is therefore 1.34 ×10 10 greater than the gravitational force.

6. Draw a diagram of the field lines between a positively charged particle and a
negatively charged particle that are placed at -x and x on an x-y plane.
The key feature of your sketch should be that the field lines radiate away from the positive
charge and toward the negative charge. If you drew you field as arrows of varying strength,
the arrows closest to the charges should be largest.

7. Two point charges of q∧4 q are placed at x=0∧x=L respectively. These

charges are free to move. A third charge is to be placed into this system so that
the whole system is in static equilibrium (i.e. all the forces balance and nothing
moves). What must the charge, sign and position of the third charge be?
 For the whole system to be in equilibrium there must be no net force acting on any of the
charges. As like charges repel, we must add a negative charge to the system. Let X be the
position of the new charge, and let it have charge −Q. There are three pairs of charges to
consider forces between:

F [ q , 4 q ] =−k
[ [q×4q]
L
2 ]
[ q ×−Q ]
F [ q ,−Q] =−k [ 2
]
X
F [ q ,−Q] =−k ¿

The magnitudes of the forces in equations 2 and 3 must balance, as the new charge must
experience an equal and opposite force between the two existing charges. This gives:
qQ 4 qQ
k 2
=k
X ( L−X )2
1 4
2
= 2
X ( L−X )
L
X= .
2
The force experienced by the charge at x=0 due to the charge at x=L must be balanced by
the force due to our newly introduced charge, so we equate the magnitudes of equations 1
L
and 2,using the fact that X = :
2
2
4q qQ
=k
( )
2 2
L L
2

4 q2 4 qQ
2
= 2
L L
Q=q

8. An electron travels parallel to a uniform electric field. Over a distance of

1.2 cm, it’s speed increases from 2.0 x 107 m/s ¿ 4.0 x 107 m/s .

a) What is the magnitude of the electric field, and what is it’s direction?
The field must be aligned parallel to and in the opposite direction to the electron’s
motion(remember field lines point from positive to negative and a positive charge attracts a
negative electron). To get the field strength, I need to know the force on the electron, which
means I need its acceleration. This is a job for our old friend, the SUVAT equation
2 2
v =u +2 as :

[ v 2−u2 ]
a=
2s

¿
[ ( 4 ×10 ) − ( 2× 10 ) ]
7 2 7 2

[ 2 ×0.012 ]
16 2
¿ 5.00 ×10 m/s .
The force due to an electric field is given by F=qE and we know from NII that F=ma , so:
ma
E=
q

[ 9.11× 10−31 × 5× 1016 ]

¿
[1.6 × 10−19 ]
¿ 285 kV /m

b) Calculate the work done on the electron by the field.

There are two ways to do the last part, each equally valid (and you should check they give
the same answer!). One uses the fact that the work done is equal to the force times the
distance moved through (as the force is constant). The other is simply to take the difference
between the final and kinetic energies. We get:
W =F ∆ r =ma ∆ r
−31 16
¿ 9.11 ×10 ×5 ×10 ×0.012
−16
¿ 5.47 ×10 J.
The sign here is correct – the electron moves faster so work must have been done on it.

9. A proton moves in a magnetic field of strength 0.5 T (Tesla). If the proton has
a speed of 1.0 x 107 m/s , calculate the acceleration of the proton in each of the
cases shown below:
 Here we have two applications of F=qv × B. We need to remember our definition of the
vector product: a × b=¿ a∨¿ b∨sin θ . The mass of a proton is 1.67 ×10−27 kg , and it’s
charge is 1.6 ×10−19 C .

a) We have:
qvBsinθ
a=
m

[ 1.6× 10−19 × 1× 107 × 0.5 ×sin 45 ]

¿
[ 1.67 ×10−27 ]
14 2
¿ 3.39 ×10 m/s
and it is directed in the positive y direction.
b)
qvBsinθ
a=
m

[ 1.6× 10−19 × 1× 107 × 0.5 ×sin 90 ]

¿
[ 1.67 ×10−27 ]
¿ 4.79 ×10 14 m/ s2
and it is directed in the positive z-direction.