Circular Motion Webquest:
Access the Website listed below. Answer all questions completely and draw diagrams to aid
explanations when applicable.
http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/circles/Lesson-3/Gravity-is-More-Than-a-Name
Universal Gravitation
Gravity must be understood in terms of its cause, its source, and its far-reaching implications on
the structure and the motion of the objects in the universe.
Gravity is More Than a Name
1. Thoroughly differentiate between the force of gravity (Fg) and the acceleration due to
gravity (g).
The Apple the Moon and the Inverse Square Law
2. Who was Johannes Kepler? Describe his three laws of Planetary Motion.
3. Who was Tycho Brahe?
4. What “bothered” Sir Isaac Newton about Kepler’s Laws?
5. What led Newton to his notion of Universal Gravitation?
6. Briefly explain the cannonball is launched from “Newton’s Mountain”.
7. To avoid hitting the Earth, an orbiting projectile must be launched with a speed of ____ .
8. What made Newton believe that gravity was “diluted” by distance?
9. What is meant by the following statement: “The force of gravity between the earth and
any object is inversely proportional to the square of the distance which separates that
object from the earth's center.”
10. Describe the following: Fg ~ 1/d2
11. Suppose that two objects attract each other with a gravitational force of 16 units. If the
distance between the two objects is doubled, what is the new force of attraction between
the two objects?
12. Suppose that two objects attract each other with a gravitational force of 16 units. If the
distance between the two objects is tripled, then what is the new force of attraction
between the two objects?
13. Suppose that two objects attract each other with a gravitational force of 16 units. If the
distance between the two objects is reduced in half, then what is the new force of
attraction between the two objects?
14. Suppose that two objects attract each other with a gravitational force of 16 units. If the
distance between the two objects is reduced by a factor of 5, then what is the new force
of attraction between the two objects?
15. Having recently completed his first Physics course, Noah Formula has devised a new
business plan based on his teacher's Physics for Better Living theme. Noah learned that
objects weigh different amounts at different distances from Earth's center. His plan
involves buying gold by the weight at one altitude and then selling it at another altitude at
the same price per weight. Should Noah buy at a high altitude and sell at a low altitude
or vice versa?
Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation
16. Distance is not the only factor affecting gravitational force, what is the other?
17. “Gravity is Universal” …what does this mean?
18. Describe the following: F ~ (m1m2)/d2
19. What is the equation used for universal gravitation? What does G represent? What is the
value of G?
20. Suppose that two objects attract each other with a gravitational force of 16 units. If the
distance between the two objects is doubled, what is the new force of attraction between
the two objects?
21. Suppose that two objects attract each other with a gravitational force of 16 units. If the
distance between the two objects is reduced in half, then what is the new force of
attraction between the two objects?
22. Suppose that two objects attract each other with a gravitational force of 16 units. If the
mass of both objects was doubled, and if the distance between the objects remained the
same, then what would be the new force of attraction between the two objects?
23. Suppose that two objects attract each other with a gravitational force of 16 units. If the
mass of both objects was doubled, and if the distance between the objects was doubled,
then what would be the new force of attraction between the two objects?
24. Suppose that two objects attract each other with a gravitational force of 16 units. If the
mass of both objects was tripled, and if the distance between the objects was doubled,
then what would be the new force of attraction between the two objects?
25. Suppose that two objects attract each other with a gravitational force of 16 units. If the
mass of object 1 was doubled, and if the distance between the objects was tripled, then
what would be the new force of attraction between the two objects?
26. As a star ages, it is believed to undergo a variety of changes. One of the last phases of a
star's life is to gravitationally collapse into a black hole. What will happen to the orbit of
the planets of the solar system if our star (the Sun shrinks into a black hole)? (And of
course, this assumes that the planets are unaffected by prior stages of the Sun's
evolving stages.)
27. What is the cause of this force which we refer to as gravity?
28. What variables affect the actual value of the force of gravity?
29. Why does the force of gravity acting upon an object depend upon the location of the
object relative to the Earth?
30. How does gravity affect objects which are far beyond the surface of the Earth?
31. How far-reaching is gravity's influence?
32. Is the force of gravity which attracts my body to the Earth related to the force of gravity
between the planets and the Sun?
