FORCE

FORCE
Gravitation
Million dollar question -
Which law is this?
History of Gravitation
1. 384-322 BCE, Aristotle had a philosophy that rocks tend to move
towards the Earth.
2. Ptolemy (90-168 CE), had a geocentric hypothesis, that all the stars and
other heavenly bodies revolve around the Earth.
3. Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543) challenged Ptolemy and proposed a
heliocentric system i.e. all planets revolve around the Sun. Supported
by precise measurements of planetary motion by Tycho Brahe.
4. Kepler proved that planets had elliptical orbits.
5. Sir Isaac Newton theorized laws of motion and gravitation.
6. Einstein’s theory of general relativity
Consequences of Gravitation
1. Tides on seas and ocean
2. Atmosphere blankets planets
3. Rainfall and snowfall
4. Flowing of water
5. Acceleration on a falling body
6. Motion of planets and satellites
7. In a nutshell existence of whole universe
http://astro.unl.edu/classaction/animations/lunarcycles/tidesim.html
The action of the tides - YouTube
Classwork
What in the god’s name happened there?

Classwork
1. What are the consequences of gravity/gravitation? Write as many as you
can.
2. Why can we see the effect of gravity more on fluids than in solids?
Kindly
prepare a
Group Assignment presentable
chart with
Work in your group to appropriate
prepare a short
pictures,
biography on the
following scientists who childhood,
worked in the field of education
gravitation and and a
astronomy.
summary of
a. Galileo Galilei their work
b. Nicolaus published or
Copernicus
c. Johannes Kepler unpublished.
d. Tycho Brahe
Please decide
e. Sir Isaac Newton
f. Albert Einstein a cool name
for your team.
Newton’s version of gravitation
- Force with which matter attracts every other
matter in the universe is called gravitation.
- Gravitation is a universal force.
- Gravitation is proportional to mass of
bodies and distance between their center of

masses.
Statement
Every particle in universe attract every other particle with a force which is directly
proportional to product of their masses and inversely proportional to square of
distance between their center of masses.
Universal gravitational constant
Force of gravitation between bodies of unit masses separated by a unit
distance is called universal gravitational constant.
Universal gravitational constant is represented by G and has value
6.67 x 10-11 Nm2/kg2 .
It was calculated by Henry Cavendish using a painstaking experiment.
Cavendish experiment replica

Lets work now!
1. Derive relation for Newton’s law of gravitation.
2. The International Space Station has a mass of
approximately 370,000 kg. What is the force on
a 150-kg suited astronaut if she is 20 m from the
center of mass of the station?
I know, this is how
you feel right now, I
have been there too.
Try to concentrate a
little bit more.
Think critically
1. What can you use law of gravitation for?
2. At what distance do you think the Earth will not experience any force of
gravitation due to the Sun?
3. What would happen to force of gravitation between two masses if we
increase distance between them by three times?
4. Let us assume, you are capable of adding and reducing masses to bodies.
Two bodies are there separated by certain distance. You doubled one of
the masses and reduced mass of another by four times. What happens to
the force of gravitation between them?
Gravity
Gravity and gravitation are same thing actually. Usually when we say gravity, we
mean gravitation due to a planet or a satellite.
1. What do you think is the formula to calculate gravity of the Earth?
2. What physiological effects can be seen in astronauts who spend long time in
reduced gravity of space.(Explore SAS (space adaptation sickness), loss of bone
and muscle mass)
3. What effects do you see on the earth due to gravity?
4. How far do you think you can jump here on the surface of the Earth? Is it same
in the moon?
5. Weight is the force that accelerates a body while falling under influence of
gravity. It is of course force of gravitation.
Acceleration due to gravity
Acceleration produced in a falling
body due to gravity is acceleration
due to gravity.
Think critically!
1. What would happen to value of ‘g’ above the surface of
the Earth?
2. What happens to the value of ‘g’ below the surface of
the Earth?
3. Is value of ‘g’ same on the top of Everest and
Biratnagar?
4. Is value of ‘g’ same on the equator and the poles of the
earth?
Numericals
1. On a planet whose radius is 1.2 × 107 m , the acceleration due to gravity is
18 m/s2 . What is the mass of the planet?
2. The mass of the Jupiter is 1.9 x 1027 kg and that of the Sun is 2 x 1030 kg. If
the distance between center of masses of Jupiter and the Sun is 7.8 x 10 11 m,
calculate:
a. Force of gravitation between Jupiter and the Sun
b. Acceleration on Jupiter due to the Sun
c. Acceleration on the Sun due to Jupiter
3. Radius of Jupiter is 11 times the radius of the Earth and mass of Jupiter is
319 times that of the Earth. Compare force of gravity on the surface of Jupiter
and surface of the Earth.
Robert Boyle’s guinea feather experiment
In a vacuum, if we drop a guinea and a feather from the same height at the
same time, both of them reach the ground at once. If we repeat the same
experiment outside in presence of air, feather reaches the ground later than
guinea.
Galileo used two stones having different masses and dropped them from
leaning tower of Pisa. The conclusion challenged then well established
philosophy of Aristotle that speed of falling objects was proportional to their
masses. People were not happy about this. You know rest of the story.
Differentiate mass from weight
Your job
Galileo's experiment realized in vacuum

Freefall and weightlessness
Redefining weight (Newton’s third law of motion) - Weight is due to reaction
forces acting on a body where action force is gravity.
The weight we experience is not actually gravity. Instead it is a reaction force.
Zero gravity flight
Weightlessness
Credits to mythbusters, Brian Cox, The Royal Institution and George Kourounis
Equations of motion
v = u + at → v = u + gt
S = ut + at2/2 → h = ut + gt2/2
v2- u2 = 2aS → v2- u2 = 2gh
Value of ‘g’ should be taken positive

for descending bodies and negative
for ascending bodies.
Research 1
1. https://nasaviz.gsfc.nasa.gov/11234
Read from this website about how the gravity on the earth is mapped?

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FORCE

What in the god’s name happened there?

bodies and distance between their center of

Universal gravitational constant is represented by G and has value

6.67 x 10-11 Nm2/kg2 .

It was calculated by Henry Cavendish using a painstaking experiment.

Cavendish experiment replica

Galileo's experiment realized in vacuum

v2- u2 = 2aS → v2- u2 = 2gh

Value of ‘g’ should be taken positive

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