Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • 17 views

    Gravitation

    Uploaded by

    havertz291a
    (1) The document provides notes on gravitational fields, including definitions of Newton's law of gravitation, gravitational field strength, gravitational potential, and gravitational field. (2) It lists important formulae for gravitational force, field strength, potential energy, and potential. (3) Conditions for applying the formulae are that the masses are point masses or spherical objects of uniform density.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Gravitation

    Uploaded by

    havertz291a
    17 views2 pages
    (1) The document provides notes on gravitational fields, including definitions of Newton's law of gravitation, gravitational field strength, gravitational potential, and gravitational field. (2) It lists important formulae for gravitational force, field strength, potential energy, and potential. (3) Conditions for applying the formulae are that the masses are point masses or spherical objects of uniform density.

    Original Title

    10. Gravitation

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    (1) The document provides notes on gravitational fields, including definitions of Newton's law of gravitation, gravitational field strength, gravitational potential, and gravitational field. (2) It lists important formulae for gravitational force, field strength, potential energy, and potential. (3) Conditions for applying the formulae are that the masses are point masses or spherical objects of uniform density.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    17 views2 pages

    Gravitation

    Uploaded by

    havertz291a
    (1) The document provides notes on gravitational fields, including definitions of Newton's law of gravitation, gravitational field strength, gravitational potential, and gravitational field. (2) It lists important formulae for gravitational force, field strength, potential energy, and potential. (3) Conditions for applying the formulae are that the masses are point masses or spherical objects of uniform density.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    You are on page 1of 2

    2020 CJC H2 Physics Revision Package – Gravitation (Notes)

    2020 H2 PHYSICS REVISION NOTES: GRAVITATIONAL FIELDS

    1.1 Definitions:

    (a) Newton’s Law of Gravitation states that two masses attracts each other with a force
    that is directly proportional to the product of the masses of the particles and inversely
    proportional to the square of the distance between them.

    (b) Gravitational Field Strength, g is defined as force per unit mass.

    (c) Gravitational Potential, Ф is defined as the work done in bringing unit mass from
    infinity to the point.

    (d) Gravitational Field is defined as a region of space where a gravitational force is felt by
    any mass placed within that region.

    1.2 Important Formulae


    General Equations Near Earth’s surface
    (uniform gravitational field)
    1 Gravitational force GMm
    F F = mg
    r2
    2 Gravitational field strength GM GM e
    g 2 g = 9.81ms-2= 2
    r Re
    3 Gravitational potential energy GMm
    U  U = mgh
    r
    4 Gravitational potential GM
     Ф = gh
    r
    5 For questions involving circular GMm mv 2
    orbits Start with F   mr 2

    r2 r
    6 Finding escape velocity Use principle of conservation of energy,
    i.e. Loss in KE = Gain in GPE
    Make sure you are able to explain WHY gravitational potential energy is negative!
    1.3 Conditions
    When applying Formulae number 1 to 4 in the table, it is assumed that

    (a) We are working with point masses OR

    (b) Spherical Objects of uniform density. In this case, r is measured from the centre of the
    sphere and the formulae are applicable to points outside the sphere.

    GM
    1.4 Derive the expression, g  [remember!]
    r2
    GMm
    (1) Apply Newton’s Law of Gravitation, i.e. F 
    r2
    (2) By definition, gravitational field strength is defined as F/m
    F GM
    (3) Hence g   2
    m r

    1
    2020 CJC H2 Physics Revision Package – Gravitation (Notes)

    1.5 Graphs

    dU
    F  i.e. gradient of the U-r graph =
    dr
    Relation between Force (F) and magnitude of the force. OR
    Potential Energy (U)
    r2

    U    Fdr i.e. area under the F-r graph =


    Remember this:
    r1
    “Force = -ve potential energy gradient”
    gain/ loss in potential energy when a mass is
    brought from r1 to r2.

    d
    g i.e. gradient of the Ф-r graph =
    dr
    Relation between g and Ф magnitude of the field strength. OR

    Remember this: “Field strength = -ve r2

    potential gradient”     gdr i.e. area under the g-r graph = gain/
    r1

    loss in potential between r1 to r2.

    1.6 Geostationary Orbit

    (a) Satellite remains stationary relative to an observer on earth.

    (b) Three conditions must be satisfied:

    (1) Orbital period = period of the Earth’s rotation (24 hours)


    (2) Satellite must orbit in the same direction as the Earth’s rotation (from west to
    east)
    (3) Orbital plane must coincide with equatorial plane (satellite must be directly above
    the equator).

    (c) Applications:
    (1) Telecommunication – able to maintain a constant electronic line-of-sight so as to
    facilitate telecommunications.

    (2) Weather forecasting and meteorology – able to provide a continuous view of a


    wide area, yielding information about the rapid changes that occur.

    (d) Disadvantage:

    (1) There is only one geostationary orbit and there is therefore a finite number of
    satellites that could be placed on it.
    (2) It maybe too far from the earth and hence occasionally messages maybe blocked
    by the atmosphere (clouds). Therefore it may not be good for surveillance
    purposes – resolution of images limited by distance & atmosphere.
    (3) Because of their orbits, geostationary satellites can only view the equatorial
    regions. Regions away from the equator cannot be observed.

    You might also like