GRAVITATION

Acceleration Due to Gravity

1. A semicircular wire has a length L and mass M. A particle of mass m is placed at the centre of the
circle. Find the gravitational attraction on the particle due to the wire.
2. Value of g on the surface of earth is 9.8m/s2. Find its value on the surface of a planet whose mass and
radius both are two times that of earth.
3. The radius of Earth is about 6400 km and that of Mars is 3200 km. The mass of Earth is 10 times that
of Mars. An object weighs 200 N on the surface of Earth. Its weight on the surface of Mars will be:
(A) 80 N (B) 40 N (C) 20 N (D) 8 N
4. A stone dropped from a height 'h' reaches the Earth's surface in 1 s. If the same stone is taken to
Moon and dropped freely from the same height then it will reach the surface of the Moon in a time
(The 'g' of Moon is 1/6 times that of Earth):.
(A) √6 seconds (B) 9 seconds (C) √3 seconds (D) 6 seconds
5. The acceleration due to gravity on a planet is 1.96 m/s 2. If it is safe to jump from a height of 3 m on
the earth, the corresponding height on the planet will be
(A) 3 m (B) 6 m (C) 9 m (D) 15 m
6. If the radius of earth shrinks by 1.5% (mass remaining same), then the value of gravitational
acceleration changes by
(A) 2% (B) –2% (C) 3% (D) –3%
7. Two planets have same density but different radii. The acceleration due to gravity would be
(A) Same on both planets (B) Greater on the smaller planet
(C) Greater on the larger planet (D) Dependent on the distance of planet from the sun
8. If density of a planet is double that of the earth and the radius 1.5 times that of the earth, the
acceleration due to gravity on the surface of the planet is
(A) ¾ times that on the surface of the earth (B) 3 times that on the surface of the earth
(C) 4/3 times that on the surface of the earth (D) 6 times that on the surface of the earth
9. Value of g on the surface of earth is 9.8m/s2. Find its value
(a) At height h = R from the surface,
(b) At depth d =R / 2 from the surface. (R = radius of earth)
10. The value of g at the surface of earth is 9.8 m/s2. Then the value of ‘g’ at a place 480 km above the
surface of the earth will be nearly (radius of the earth is 6400 km)
(A) 9.8 m/s2 (B) 7.2 m/s2 (C) 8.5 m/s2 (D) 4.2 m/s2
11. Assuming earth to be a sphere of uniform mass density, how much would a body weigh half way
down the centre of the earth, if it weighed 100 N on the surface?
12. At what depth below the surface of earth, value of acceleration due to gravity is same as the value at
height h =R, where R is the radius of earth.
13. At what height above the Earth's surface the acceleration due to gravity will be 1/9th of its value at
the Earth's surface? (Radius of Earth is 6400 km)
14. Calculate the distance from the surface of the earth at which the acceleration due to gravity is the
same below and above the surface of the earth.
15. At what height from the surface of earth will the value of g be reduced by 36% from the value at the
surface? Take radius of earth R = 6400 km.
16. At what height above the surface of earth the value of "g" decreases by 2%? [radius of earth is 6400
km]
(A) 32 km (B) 64 km (C) 128 km (D) 1600 km
17. If the change in the value of ‘g’ at a height ‘h’ above the surface of the earth is same as at a depth x
below it, then (x and h being much smaller than the radius of the earth)
(A) x = h (B) x = 2h (C) x=h/2 (D) x = h2
18. At what depth below the Earth's surface the acceleration due to gravity is decreased by 1%?
19. Weight of a body decreases by 1% when it is raised to a height h above the Earth's surface. If the body
is taken to a depth h in a mine, then its weight will:
(A) Decrease by 0.5% (B) decrease by 2% (C) increase by 0.5% (D) increase by 1%
20. Find the percentage decrement in the weight of a body when taken to a height of 16 km above the
surface of earth. (radius of earth is 6400 km)
21. At which height from the earth's surface does the acceleration due to gravity decrease by 75% of its
value at earth's surface?
22. At which height above earth's surface is the value of 'g' same as in a 100 km deep mine?
23. At what depth below the surface does the acceleration due to gravity becomes 70% of its value on the
surface of earth?
24. At what depth from earth's surface does the acceleration due to gravity becomes 1/4th times that of
its value at surface?
25. If earth suddenly stop rotating, then the weight of an object of mass m at equator will ω is angular
speed of earth and R is its radius]
(A) Decrease by mω2R (B) Increase by mω2R (C) Decrease by mωR2 (D) Increase by mωR2
26. Calculate the change in the value of g at altitude 45°. Take radius of earth R = 6.37 × 103 km.
27. Determine the speed with which the earth would have to rotate on its axis, so that a person on the
equator would weigh 3/5th as much as at present. Take R = 6400 km.
28. A body is weighed by a spring balance to be 1000 N at the North Pole. How much will it weight at the
equator? Account for the earth’s rotation only.
29. At what rate should the earth rotate so that the apparent g at the equator becomes zero? What will
be the length of the day in this situation?