Gravity
Gravity
Gravity
m1
This is the force each planet exerts on the other. Note the
denominator is has a factor of 103 to convert to meters and a factor of
106 to account for the million. It doesn’t matter which way or how
fast the planets are moving.
3rd Law: Action-Reaction
In the last example the force on each planet is the same. This is due to
to Newton’s third law of motion: the force on Planet 1 due to Planet 2
is just as strong but in the opposite direction as the force on Planet 2
due to Planet 1. The effects of these forces are not the same, however,
since the planets have different masses.
For the big planet: a = (8.08 · 1015 N) / (1.23 · 1026 kg)
= 6.57 · 10-11 m/s2.
G m 1 m2
FG = r2
Since G is only
6.67 · 10-11 N·m2 / kg2,
the measurements had
to be very precise.
Calculating the mass of the Earth
Knowing G, we can now actually calculate the mass of the Earth.
All we do is write the weight of any object in two different ways and
equate them. Its weight is the force of gravity between it and the
Earth, which is FG in the equation below. ME is the mass of the
Earth, RE is the radius of the Earth, and m is the mass of the object.
The object’s weight can also be written as mg.
G m 1 m2 G ME m
FG = r2
= RE 2
= mg
T 2 These
R 3 laws apply to any satellite orbiting a much
larger body.
Kepler’s First Law
Planets move around the sun in elliptical paths with the
sun at one focus of the ellipse.
F1 F2
Sun
P
Planet
An ellipse has two foci, F1 and F2. For any point P on the ellipse,
F1 P + F2 P is a constant. The orbits of the planets are nearly circular
(F1 and F2 are close together), but not perfect circles. A circle is a an
ellipse with both foci at the same point--the center. Comets have very
eccentric (highly elliptical) orbits.
Kepler’s Second Law (proven in advanced physics)
While orbiting, a planet sweep out equal areas in equal times.
Sun C
The blue shaded sector has the same area as the red shaded sector.
Thus, a planet moves from C to D in the same amount of time as it
moves from A to B. This means a planet must move faster when it’s
closer to the sun. For planets this affect is small, but for comets it’s
quite noticeable, since a comet’s orbit is has much greater eccentricity.
Kepler’s Third Law
The square of a planet’s period is proportional to the
cube of its mean distance from the sun: T 2 R 3
Assuming that a planet’s orbit is circular (which is not exactly correct
but is a good approximation in most cases), then the mean distance
from the sun is a constant--the radius. F is the force of gravity on the
planet. F is also the centripetal force. If the orbit is circular, the
planet’s speed is constant, and v = 2 R / T. Therefore,
GMm m v2 m [2 R / T] 2
= =
R2 R R
m Cancel m’s GM 4 2 R
F Planet and simplify: =
R2 T2
M
R 4 2
Sun Rearrange: T 2 = R3
GM
Since G, M, and are constants, T 2 R 3.
Third Law Analysis
4 2
We just derived T 2 = R3
GM
• It also shows that the orbital period depends on the mass of the
central body (which for a planet is its star) but not on the mass of the
orbiting body. In other words, if Mars had a companion planet the
same distance from the sun, it would have the same period as Mars,
regardless of its size.
• This shows that the farther away a planet is from its star, the longer it
takes to complete an orbit. Likewise, an artificial satellite circling
Earth from a great distance has a greater period than a satellite orbiting
closer. There are two reasons for this: 1. The farther away the satellite
is, the farther it must travel to complete an orbit; 2. The farther out its
orbit is, the slower it moves, as shown:
GMm m v2 GM
= v =
R2 R R
Third Law Example
One astronomical unit (AU) is the distance between Earth and the
sun (about 93 million miles). Jupiter is 5.2 AU from the sun. How
long is a Jovian year?
answer: Kepler’s 3rd Law says T 2 R 3, so T 2 = k R 3, where k is
the constant of proportionality. Thus, for Earth and Jupiter we have:
TE 2 = k RE 3 and TJ 2 = k RJ 3
k’s value matters not; since both planets are orbiting the same
central body (the sun), k is the same in both equations. TE = 1 year,
and
RJ / RE = 5.2, so 3dividing equations:
TJ 2
RJ
= TJ 2 = (5.2) 3 TJ = 11.9 years
TE 2
RE 3
continued on next slide
Third Law Example (cont.)
What is Jupiter’s orbital speed?
answer: Since it’s orbital is approximately circular, and it’s speed
is approximately constant: Jupiter is 5.2 AU from the sun
(5.2 times farther than Earth is).
d 2 (5.2) (93 · 106
miles) 1 year 1 day
v= = · ·
t 11.9 years 365 days 24 hours
Earth’s surface
Uniform Gravitational Fields (cont.)
A 10 kg mass is near the surface of the Earth. Since the
field strength is 9.8 N / kg, each of the ten kilograms feels a
9.8 N force, for a total of 98 N. So, we can calculate the
force of gravity by multiply mass and field strength. This is
the same as calculating its weight (W = mg).
10 kg
98 N
Earth’s surface
Nonuniform Gravitational Fields
Near Earth’s surface the gravitational field is approximately uniform.
Far from the surface it looks more like a sea urchin.