Gravitation

Isaac Newton published the inverse-square-law attraction between 2 massive particles:

in his Principia in 1687. Henr !avendish "irst measured the value o" # in 17$8% it is currenl
measured to be 6.6726 & '.''8 ( 1'
-8
cm
)
*+, ( s
2
- and is the most imprecisel .nown o" the
"undamental phsical constants. /or e(tended bod with densit distribution 0+r-1 the "orce e(erted on
a point mass m is
2he ,ravitational "ield +acceleration- is g 3 F*m
Gravitational potential
2he ,ravitational "ield g can be e(pressed as the ,radient o" a scalar potential g 3 -4. /or a point
mass1 this ,ravitational potential is 4 3 -#5*r. 2he constant term in the potential has been chosen so
that 4 6 ' as r 6 7. 2his choice isn8t possible "or mass distributions that are in"inite in e(tent. 2he
potential "rom an e(tended distribution is
2he wor. done to move a particle in a ,ravitational "ield is
2he ,ravitational potential ener, o" particle o" mass m is 9 3 m4.
Gravitational potential of a spherical shell
!onsider the potential at a point a distance r "rom the center o" a spherical shell o" radius :
3 -#5*r r ; :
3 -#5*: r < :
2his tells us that "or an sphericall smmetric densit distribution +which can be considered to be a
superposition o" shells-1 the potential outside the distribution is the same as that o" a point mass at its
center1 and the potential inside the distribution is constant +and hence the "ield g 3 -4 vanishes-.
Gravitational potential of a ring
!onsider the potential at a point a distance r "rom the center o" a rin, o" radius :. Is the equilibrium
point at the center o" rin, stable or unstable=
where > 3 5*2?:. 2alor e(pand this e(pression "or r << :.
@e "ind d9*dr 3 ' at r 3 '1 and d
2
9*dr
2
3 -#5m*2:
)
< '. 2he equilibrium is unstable.
Poisson's equation
2he ,ravitational "ield g o" a point mass varies inversel as the square o" the distance1 Aust li.e the
electric "ield o" a point char,e1 but it is directed inwards1 not outwards. @e there"ore have
Bince g 3 -41 we can also write
2his is Coisson8s equation1 a partial di""erential equation that that can be solved "or the potential "rom
an arbitrar densit distribution. It is .nown as Daplace8s equation when 0 3 '.
Lines of force
Dines o" "orce point alon, the direction o" the vector "ield. 2he total number o" lines is proportional to
the mass o" the particle1 while their sur"ace densit is proportional to the stren,th o" the "ield.
Equipotential sur"aces +4 3 const.- are perpendicular to these lines since alon, an equipotential sur"ace
Ocean tides
!onsider a "luid element o" mass m at position r
m
. 2his "luid element e(periences an acceleration
due to the in"luence o" the Earth and 5oon1 however the Earth e(perience an acceleration
in the 5oon8s ,ravitational "ield. 2he relative acceleration is there"ore
2he 1
st
term is the Earth8s ,ravitational "ield1 while the 2
nd
term in the 5oon8s tidal "ield. @e can also
use the ,ravitational potential to calculate the tidal "orce as a "unction o" r
m
.
Det d
E5
be the distance "rom the Earth to the 5oon and assume that this distance is much ,reater than
the radius o" the Earth :
E
. @e then have
implin, that
a"ter we have subtracted o"" the Earth8s acceleration. Fs a da is much shorter than a month1 we
e(perience 2 hi,h tides per da as the Earth rotates throu,h the tidal bul,es. 2he 5oon8s mass is 5
5
3
G*) ? 0
5
:
5
)
1 implin, that the tidal acceleration is proportional to 0
5
+:
5
*d
E5
-
)
. 2he an,le subtended
b the 5oon on the s. is +:
5
*d
E5
-1 implin, that i" 2 obAects +li.e the 5oon and Bun- subtend the
same solid an,le1 their relative tidal accelerations will be proportional to their densities. 2he Bun is
about G6H the densit o" the 5oon1 implin, that its tides are wea.er b that same "actor. 2he hi,hest
tides each month occur durin, the new and "ull 5oon +sprin, tides-1 when the Bun and 5oon act in
concert. 2he wea.est tides +neap tides- occur at 1
st
and )
rd
quarter when the solar and lunar tides
oppose each other. Iue to "riction1 the tidal bul,es lead the 5oon1 trans"errin, an,ular momentum
"rom the Earth8s rotation to the 5oon8s orbit. 2he 5oon moves awa "rom the Earth J1cm*r1 and the
Earth will become tidall loc.ed +da 3 month- in J6' billion ears.
Two-body problem
Det us consider the motion o" 2 point masses m
1
and m
2
. Det the positions o" these 2 point masses be
,iven b r
1
and r
2
. Newton8s )
rd
law tells us that i" m
1
e(erts a "orce F
21
on m
2
1 m
2
will e(ert a "orce F
12

3 -F
21
on m
1
. 2his implies that:
2his means that we can de"ine a center-o"-mass vector:
such that d*dt 3 const. @e can then boost to a "rame in which d*dt 3 ' 3 const. @e can also
de"ine the separation vector r 3 r
1
and r
2
between our 2 masses1 implin, that:
F central "orce depends onl on the ma,nitude o" r and can be e(pressed as F 3 -9!"rK-. In this case
the ener, o" the sstem can be e(pressed as:
where
is the reduced mass o" the sstem. @e have thus reduced the 2-bod problem "or point masses under
the in"luence o" a central "orce to an e""ective one-bod problem "or a sin,le point mass L in the
potential 9+r-.
#ngular momentum
2he "act that F+r- is a central "orce implies:
2his in turn implies that the motion is restricted to the plane perpendicular to L. In polar coordinates +r1
M- in this plane:
2he constanc o" the an,ular momentum implies that the area per unit time swept out b the particle as
it travels alon, its orbit:
is also constant. 2his is Nepler8s 2
nd
law o" planetar motion. 2he constanc o" the an,ular momentum
reduces the 2-bod problem to a 1-dimensional problem in the radial coordinate: