1

Chapter 13

GRAVITATION

13.1 Newtons Law of Universal Gravitation

Every particle with mass m
1
in the universe
attracts every other particle with mass m
2
with a
force that is directly proportional to the product of
their masses and inversely proportional to the square
of the distance r between them.


2
2 1
r
m Gm
F =




G = 6.67 x 10
11 !
!
2
2
kg
Nm
Universal Gravitational
Constant

r = distance from the center of mass of one particle to
the center of mass of the other particle.





2
13.2 Weight

The attractive force exerted by the Earth on an object
is called the gravitational force

!
r
F
g
or
r
W . This force
is called the weight of the object, and its direction is
toward the center of the Earth. The weight of an
object of mass m on the Earth has a magnitude equal
to:


!
r
F
g
= Weight = G
M
E
m
R
E
2


The quantity
2
E
E
R
M
G appears so often that it is given
the name g
r
or simply g. This quantity is also called
the gravitational field generated by the Earth at
locations near its surface. The gravitational field g
r
is
a vector quantity with a direction toward the center of
the Earth, and with a magnitude defined as

2
E
E
R
M
G g g = =
r

using

G = 6.67x10
-11
Nm
2
/kg
2

3
M
E
= 5.98x10
24
kg (mass of the Earth)
R
E
= 6.37x10
6
m (radius of the Earth)

yields a value of g = 9.8 m/s
2
. One can thus say that
the weight of an object of mass m on the surface of
the Earth is


!
r
W = m
r
g

where g
r
= the acceleration due to gravity (or the
gravitational field), always directed toward the center
of the Earth.

Mass and weight are thus related quantities. The
magnitude of a bodys weight W is directly
proportional to its mass m.













4
13.3 Gravitational Potential Energy

1. Object of mass m at a height y near the Earths
surface, y << R
E
:

!
U
g
" mgy

2. Object far from Earths surface, y > ! or R
E
:

r
m GM
U
E
g
!
= exact.

















5
If
!
y << R
E
, then what is
!
" U
g
( )
?

( ) ( )
E E
R r U R y r U U = ! + = " #

E
E
E
E
R
m GM
R y
m GM
+
+
!
"

!
!
!
!
"
#
$
$
$
$
%
&
'
'
(
)
*
*
+
,
+
- .
E
E
E
E
R
y
R
R
m GM
1
1 1



!
!
"
#
$
$
%
&
'
'
(
)
*
*
+
,
+ - .
-1
1 1
E E
E
R
y
R
m GM



!
"
#
$
%
&
'
'
(
)
*
*
+
,
+ - - . ... 1 1
E E
E
R
y
R
m GM


my
R
GM
E
E
!
!
"
#
$
$
%
&
'
2


mgy U = ! Valid when
E
R y <<


6
Escape Speed:
With what initial speed must an object of mass m be
thrown vertically upward so it escapes from the
Earth? Neglect air friction effects.

Using conservation of mechanical energy yields

f f i i
U kE U kE + = +

( )
!
" = "
m GM
m
R
m GM
mv
E
E
E
2
2
0
2
1
2
1


E
E
esc
R
GM 2
= ! =
sec
2 . 11
km
for the Earth.



13.4 The Motions of Satellites

Many artificial satellites have nearly circular orbits
around the Earth. The orbits of the planets around the
Sun are also nearly circular.
Consider the motion of a satellite of mass m in a
circular orbit of radius r around the Earth.
!
F
"
#
= m
$
2
r

7

!
GM
E
m
r
2
=
m"
2
r




!
v =
GM
E
r


(circular orbit)



use also
T
r !
"
2
=

where T is the period of revolution of the satellite
around the Earth, then

!
GM
E
r
=
2" r
T
#
$
%
&
'
(
2



!
T
2
=
4"
2
GM
E
#
$
%
&
'
(
r
3
(circular orbit)

These equations indicate that larger orbits
correspond to slower speeds and longer periods.

8
The mechanical energy E of the satellite is

U kE E + =

!
E =
1
2
m"
2
#
GM
E
m
r


But from Newtons Second Law we have that

!
1
2
GM
E
m
r
2
=
1
2
m"
2
r
#
1
2
m"
2
=
1
2
GM
E
m
r


So that the mechanical energy E becomes


!
E =
1
2
GM
E
m
r
"
GM
E
m
r
(circular orbit)

!
E(r) =
"GM
E
m
2r











9
13.5 Keplers (1571-1630) Laws and Planetary
Motion:

Geometry of an ellipse.



=
a
R Aphelion distance
( ) e a R
a
+ = 1

=
p
R Perihelion distance
( ) e a R
p
! = 1

Kepplers Laws of Planetary Motion:







1. All planets move in elliptical orbits having the Sun
at one focus.







10
2. A line joining any planet to the Sun sweeps out
equal areas in equal time intervals. ! Results for
conservation of angular momentum of orbiting
planets


! " = L = constant


!
L = mr
2
"




!
dA =
1
2
r
2
d"


!
r
2
d" = 2 dA


dt
d
mr L
!
2
= so
( )
dt
dA
m
L 2
=

!
dA
dt
=
L
2m


Note that since the only force acting on the planet is
the gravitational force exerted by the sun, and the line
of action of this gravitational force passes through the


11
center of the sun, then the torque of the gravitational
force acting on the planet about the sun is 0 = ! .
Hence


!
" =
dL
dt
= 0

Thus L = constant

= =
m
L
dt
dA
2
constant


!equal areas in equal time intervals.

3. The square of the period of revolution of any
planet about the Sun is proportional to the cube of
the planets mean distance from the Sun. Newton
showed that for an elliptic orbit, the planets orbit
radius r should be replaced by the semi-major axis
a of the elliptical orbit.



!
T
2
=
4"
2
GM
S
#
$
%
&
'
(
a
3
(elliptical orbit)


12
Energy Considerations in Planetary and Satellite
Motion.

The mechanical energy E of a planet orbiting around
a star or a satellite orbiting around a planet is always
(a) Constant and
(b) Negative (bound).

In general, if the mechanical energy E is such that


!
E(r) < 0 " elliptical orbit
E(r) = 0 " parablic orbit
E(r) > 0 " hyperbolic orbit
#
$
%
&
%


For an elliptical orbit with semi-major axis a , the
mechanical energy E becomes

!
E =
"G M m
2a
(elliptical orbit)

Lets use conservation of energy and show that the
speed of an object in an elliptical orbit satisfies


!
"
#
$
%
&
' =
a r
GM
1 2
( (elliptical orbit)
13
Proof: Use conservation of mechanical energy


g
U kE E + =

r
GMm
m
a
GMm
! =
!
2
2
1
2
"

a
GM
r
GM
2 2
2
! =
"


!
"(r) = GM
2
r
#
1
a
$
%
&
'
(
)

Here r is the distance of the orbiting body from
the central body whose mass is M.

13.7 Apparent Weight and the Earths Rotation

Gravitation Near the Earths Surface
Assume Earth is spherical, homogeneous, and at
rest (not spinning) Then, the gravitational force (true
weight w
o
= mg
o
) acting on an object of mass m is

!
w
o
=
GM
E
m
R
E
2


14
2
E
E
o
R
m GM
mg =

2
2
8 . 9
s
m
R
GM
g
E
E
o
= =

But the values of g
o
vary with latitude because:
1. Earths crust is not uniform!density variations
provide information about oil prospects.

2. Earth is not a sphere. Earths equatorial radius
is 21 km longer than the radius at the poles. At
the north and south poles, you are closer to
Earths center so g
o
should be higher.

3. Earths rotation effect leads to a difference in g
o

of about 0.034
2
s
m
. Lets show this:

Consider someone at the equator holding a spring
scale with a body of mass m hanging from it. Each
scale applies a tension force
!
r
F to the body hanging
from it, and the reading on the scale is the magnitude
F of this force. If the observer is unaware of the
Earths rotation, then he thinks that the scale reading
equals the weight of the body because he thinks the
body is in equilibrium. But the body is rotating with
15
the Earth and is not precisely in equilibrium. Thus
the magnitude of the force
!
r
F is the objects apparent
weight W. Consider the Earth spinning with
!
" =
2#
T
. Then














!
F
"
#
= ma
"


!
mg
o
"F = m#
2
R
E



!
r
F = apparent weight = mg

E o
R m mg mg
2
! = "


16

E o
R g g
2
! = "
E
R
T
2
2
!
"
#
$
%
&
=
'

( )( ) [ ]
( )
6
2
2
10 370 . 6
60 60 24
4
! =
"


2
034 . 0
s
m
g g
o
= !

That is, the actual acceleration due to gravity at the
equator when the Earth is spinning is smaller by
0.034
2
s
m
than when the Earth is stationary. Spinning
Earth reduces g slightly.





















17
13.8 Black Holes

A black hole is an object that exerts a gravitational
force on other objects but does not allow any light of
its own to escape from it.

A body of mass M will act as a black hole if its radius
R is less than or equal to a certain critical radius
called the Schwarzschild radius R
s
which equals

!
R
s
=
2GM
c
2


The surface of the sphere with radius R
s
surrounding
a black hole is called the event horizon. Since light
cant escape from within that sphere, we cant see
events occurring inside. All that an observer outside
the event horizon can know about a black hole are
its mass (from its gravitational effects on other
bodies
its electric charge (from the electric forces it
exerts on other charged bodies)
its angular momentum (because a black hole
tends to drag space and everything in that
space around with it).



18