Gravitation

General
Physics 1
Gravitation
Table of Contents
Theory of Newton’s Law

01 Relativity 02 of Gravitation
Celestial
03 Motion
Gravity
Also called Gravitation, is a

natural phenomenon by which all
things with mass and energy are
brought towards one another.
General Theory of Relativity
What causes the apple to fall?

What causes YOU to be pulled down?
Answer: The Earth’s Mass. Anything
that has mass has a gravitational pull
towards it.
General Theory of
Relativity
“A massive object generates a

gravitational field by warping
the geometry of the surrounding
spacetime.”
Newton’s Law of Gravitation
𝐹𝑔 ∝ 𝑚1 𝑚2
The proportionality above says that for

there to be force due to gravity on
something, there must be two masses
involved
1
𝐹𝑔 ∝ 2
𝑟
Where “r” is the distance between the

centers of mass of the two objects.
As you move away from the Earth, your

distance increase and your force due to
gravity decreases. This is a special
inverse relationship called an Inverse-
Square.
In 1687, Newton published his
every particle in the Universe work on the law of gravitation in his
attracts every other particle treatise Mathematical Principles of
Natural Philosophy. It states that:
with a force that is directly
proportional to the product of 𝑚1 𝑚2
𝐹𝑔 = 𝐺
𝑟2
their masses and inversely Where G is the gravitational
proportional to the square of constant and its SI value is
2
the distance between them.
𝑚
𝐺 = 6.67 𝑥 10−11 𝑁 ∙ 2
𝑘𝑔
Example
Compute the gravitational force between the earth and the moon.
Given:
𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡ℎ = 5.98 𝑥 1024 𝑘𝑔
𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑜𝑜𝑛 = 7.38 𝑥 1022 𝑘𝑔
𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡ℎ 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑜𝑜𝑛 = 384,790 𝑘𝑚
Weight and Gravity
ON A NON-ROTATING PLANET
When an object is in (or near) the Earth’s surface:
𝐹𝑔 = 𝑚𝑔
Alternatively:
𝑀𝑚
𝐹𝑔 = 𝐺
𝑟2
Where:
M= mass of the Earth = 5.97 𝑥 1024 𝑘𝑔
𝑟 = 𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑢𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐸𝑎𝑟𝑡ℎ = 6.37 𝑥 106 𝑚
Example
A robotic lander with an earth weight of 3430N is sent to Mars,
which has a radius of 𝑟𝑀 = 3.40 𝑥 106 𝑚 and a mass of 𝑚𝑀 =
6.42 𝑥 1023 𝑘𝑔. Find the weight 𝐹𝑔 of the lander on the Martian
surface and the acceleration due to gravity, 𝑔𝑀
Gravitational Field
The field lines:
• Are radial, rather than parallel and point
toward the center of the Earth.
• Get farther apart farther from the
surface, meaning the field is weaker
there.
• Get closer together closer to the surface,
meaning the field is stronger there.
Types of Celestial Motion
The two main types of periodic motion in
space are:
• Elliptical Motion – planets about the
Sun and some artificial satellites.
• Circular Motion – moons about their
planets and some artificial satellites.
Satellite means “neighbor” or

“companion”. To an astrophysicist,
satellites can be:
• Natural (e.g. moons)
• Artificial (e.g. communication satellites)
Artificial Satellites
Artificial Satellites are categorized as:

• Geostationary satellites – geosynchronous
• Polar satellites – rotates around and passing
the poles
Circular Orbit
In a circular orbit, a satellite always travel at the same

speed and stays the same distance from Earth. A satellite
moving around the Earth has orbiting/critical velocity.
Solving for the orbital velocity:
𝐹𝑔 = 𝐹𝑐
𝑚𝐸 𝑚𝑠 𝑚𝑠 𝑣 2
𝐺 2
=
𝑟 𝑟
𝐺𝑚𝑒
𝑣=
𝑟
Example
A 5000-kg geosynchronous satellite moves uniformly in a circular
path 400km above the Earth. Calculate the ff: (a) the gravitational
force; (b) critical velocity
18
Circular Orbits for Heavenly Bodies
Copernican Model Ptolemaic Model

Elliptical Orbit
Eccentricity
It is the measure of how much the conic section deviates
from being circular.
• The Law of Orbits
• The Law of Areas
• The Law of Periods
Kepler’s First Law (1609)
The planets move in elliptical orbits with the sun at one focus.
Distance of the aphelion from

the Sun:
𝑑𝑎𝑝ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑜𝑛 = 𝑎 1 + 𝑒
Distance of the perihelion from
the Sun:
𝑑𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑜𝑛 = 𝑎(1 − 𝑒)
Where a is the Semi-major axis

Kepler’s Second Law (1609)
The radius vector to a planet sweeps out at a rate that is
independent of its position in the orbit.
Kepler’s Third Law (1619)
The square of the period of revolution about the sun is
proportional to the cube of the semi-major axis of the orbit.
𝑇 2 4𝜋 2
3
=
𝑟 𝐺𝑀
Where:
𝑇 = 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑜𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
𝑟 = 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑢𝑛
𝑀 = 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑢𝑛
Example
Calculate the mass of the Sun, noting that the period of the
Earth’s orbit around the Sun is 3.156 𝑥 107 𝑠 and its distance
from the Sun is 1.496 𝑥 1011 𝑚.
Seatwork
A.) How hard do two planets pull on each other
if their masses are 1.23 𝑥 1026 𝑘𝑔 and
5.21 𝑥 1022 𝑘𝑔 and they are 230 million
kilometers apart?
Seatwork
B.) Two satellites of equal mass are put into

orbit 25 meters apart. The gravitational force
between them is 2.0 𝑥 10−7 𝑁. Find the mass
of each satellite.
Seatwork
C.) Calculate the gravitational force applied to a
3,000-kg rocket in Jupiter given that it has a radius
of 7149 km and mass of 1.898 𝑥 1027 𝑘𝑔. Find the
escape velocity required to escape from the
gravitational pull.
Seatwork
D.) In 1610, Galileo used his telescope to discover the four most
prominent moons of Jupiter (the Galilean moons). Their mean
orbital radii and periods are given in the table. Plot a graph of
𝑟 3 (𝑦−axis) against 𝑇 2 (𝑥−axis) and comment on what this
graph shows about the relationship between 𝑟 and 𝑇.
Name 𝑟 (m) 𝑇 (days)
Io 4.22 × 108 1.77
Europa 6.71 × 108 3.55
Ganymede 10.70 × 108 7.16
Callisto 18.80 × 108 16.70

Gravitation

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Gravitation

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General

Theory of Newton’s Law

Also called Gravitation, is a

What causes the apple to fall?

“A massive object generates a

The proportionality above says that for

Where “r” is the distance between the

As you move away from the Earth, your

Satellite means “neighbor” or

Artificial Satellites are categorized as:

In a circular orbit, a satellite always travel at the same

Copernican Model Ptolemaic Model

Distance of the aphelion from

Where a is the Semi-major axis

B.) Two satellites of equal mass are put into

Ganymede 10.70 × 108 7.16

Callisto 18.80 × 108 16.70

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