8.

GRAVITATION
➢ Universal law of Gravitation
➢ Acceleration due to gravity
➢ Variation of g with altitude
➢ Variation of g with depth
➢ Gravitational Potential Energy
➢ Gravitational Potential
➢ Escape Velocity
➢ Orbital velocity of a satellite
➢ Geo-stationary Satellites
Gravitation……..

• Gravitation is the force of attraction between any

two bodies in the universe.
• Ex: The attraction between the sun and earth,
the attraction between a table and a chair.
• Gravity is a special case of gravitation. If one of
the attracting bodies is the earth, then
gravitation is called gravity.
• Gravity is the force of attraction between the
earth and any object lying on or near its surface.
 ➢Newton’s Universal Law of Gravitation
• Every body in the universe attracts every other body with a
force which is directly proportional to the product of their
masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance
between them. This force acts along the line joining the two
particles.
• Consider two bodies of masses
m1 and m2 and separated by
distance r. According to the law of gravitation, the force of
attraction F between them is such that
 Newton’s Universal Law of gravitation …….
• Where G is a constant called universal gravitational constant.
• If m1 = m2 = 1 and r = 1, then F = G
• G is defined as the force of attraction between two bodies of
unit mass each and placed unit distance apart.
• In S.I system, G = 6.67 x 10-11Nm2 kg-2
• In CGS system, G = 6.67 x 10-8 dyne cm2 g-2
• [G] = [M-1L3T-2 ].
• From Newton’s shell theorem,
(i)The force of attraction between a hollow spherical shell of
uniform density and a point mass situated outside is just as if
the entire mass of the shell is concentrated at the centre of the
shell.
(ii)The force of attraction due to a hollow spherical shell of
uniform density, on a point mass situated inside is zero.
 Vector form of the law of gravitation
• Consider two particles A and B of masses m1 and m2 and
separated by distance r.
Vector form of the law of gravitation ……..
 Principle of superposition of gravitational forces
• The gravitational force between two masses acts
independently and uninfluenced by the presence of other
bodies.
• Hence the resultant gravitational force acting on a particle
due to a number of masses is the vector sum of the
gravitational forces exerted by the individual masses on the
given particle.
➢Acceleration due to gravity(g)
• The acceleration produced in a freely falling body under the
gravitational pull of the earth is called acceleration due to gravity.
• Consider the earth of mass M and radius R. A body of mass m lying
on its surface.
• According to the law of gravitation, the force of attraction between
them, F = GMm/R2
• From Newton’s second law, F = mg
• From the above two equations, mg = GMm/R2
g = GM/R2
• The above formula gives the relation between g and G.
• The value of g is independent of mass, size and shape of the body
falling under gravity.
• g depends on altitude, depth, rotation of the earth and shape of the
earth.
 ➢Variation of ‘g’ with altitude(height)
• Consider the earth to be a sphere of mass M,
radius R and centre O.
• Then the acceleration due to gravity at a
point A on the surface of the earth will be
g = GM/ R2 ------------(i)
• If gh is the acceleration due to gravity at a
point B at height h from the earth’s surface,
then, gh = GM/(R+h)2 -------(ii)
• Dividing eq.(ii) by (i), we get
Variation of ‘g’ with altitude(height) ………
• Expanding R.H.S by using binomial theorem, we get
(gh /g) = 1-(2h/R) + terms containing higher powers of h/R
• If h<<R, then (h/R)<<1, so that higher powers of h/R can be
neglected, we get

• The value of g decreases with increase in height.

• NOTE: While solving numerical problems,
1. Eq.(iii) should be used when h is comparable to R
2. Eq.(iv) should be used when h<<R.
 ➢Variation of ‘g’ with depth
• Consider the earth to be a sphere of mass M, radius R and
centre O.
• Then the acceleration due to gravity at a point A on the surface
of the earth will be
g = GM/ R2 -------------(i)
• Assuming the earth to be a homogeneous sphere of average
density ρ, then its total mass will be
M = Volume x density = (4/3) ϖR3ρ ----- --(ii)
• From eqs.(i) and (ii), we get
g = (4/3)ϖGRρ
• Let gd be the acceleration due to gravity
at a point B at depth d below the surface
of the earth.
Variation of g with depth……
• A body at B experiences gravitational force due to inner sphere of radius
(R-d) and mass M’, where

• The acceleration due to gravity decreases with the increase in depth d.

➢Gravitational Potential Energy(U)
• The gravitational potential energy of a body is the energy
associated with it due to its position in the gravitational field of
another body.
• It is defined as the amount of work done in bringing a body
from infinity to a given point in the gravitational field of the
other body.
• Suppose the earth is a uniform sphere of
mass M and radius R. We wish to calculate
the potential energy of a body of mass m
located at a point P such that
OP = r and r>R .
• At any instant the body is at point A such
that OA = x
• The gravitational force of attraction on the
body at A is given by F = GMm/x2
 Gravitational Potential Energy……
• The small work done in moving the body through small distance dx is given by
dW = Fdx = (GMm/x2 )dx
• The total work done in bringing the body from infinity to the point P will be

• By definition,
this work done(W) = Gravitational Potential Energy(U)

• The negative sign indicates that the U is due to the gravitational attraction
between the earth and the body.
NOTE:
• When the body lies at infinity from another body, the
gravitational force on it is zero.
• So potential energy on the body is zero. This is called zero
level of potential energy.
• As the distance r increases, the gravitational P.E increases.
• If a body of mass m is moved from a point at distance r1 to a
point at distance r2, then the change in P.E of a body will be
∆U = -GMm(1/r2 – 1/r1 )
• If a body is moved from the surface of the earth (r1 = R) to a
point at height h(<<R) above the surface of the earth (r2 = R
+ h), then the change(increase) in gravitational P.E will be
∆U = mgh
➢Gravitational Potential(V)
• The gravitational potential at a point is the potential energy
associated with a unit mass due to its position in the
gravitational field of another body.
• The gravitational potential at a point in the gravitational field
of a body is defined as the amount of work done in bringing a
body of unit mass from infinity to that point.
• Gravitational potential, V = Work done / mass
V=W/m
V = -GM / r
• It is a scalar quantity.
• Its S.I unit is Jkg-1 and cgs unit is erg g-1 .
• [V] = [M0L2T-2]
• Gravitational P.E (U)= Gravitational Potential(V) x mass(m).
➢Escape Velocity(ve)
• Escape velocity is the minimum velocity with which a body
must be projected vertically upwards in order that it may just
escape the gravitational field of the earth.
• Consider the earth to be a sphere of mass M
and radius R with centre O.
• Suppose a body of mass m lies at point P
at distance x from the centre.
• The gravitational force of attraction on the
body at P is
F = GMm / x2
• The small work done in moving the body
through small distance dx against the
gravitational force is given by
dW = Fdx = (GMm/x2)dx
 Escape Velocity…….
• The total work done in moving the body from the surface of
the earth to a region beyond the gravitational field of the
earth will be

• From the conservation of energy

Escape Velocity ………
• Escape velocity does not depend on the mass and angle of
projection of the body projected.
• Escape velocity depends on the mass and radius of the
planet from the surface of which the body is projected.
• The value of escape velocity for the planet earth is 11.2
kms-1 .
➢Orbital Velocity(V0)
• Orbital velocity is the velocity required to put the satellite into its orbit
around the earth.
• Let
M = mass of the earth,
R = Radius of the earth,
m = mass of the satellite,
v0 = orbital velocity of satellite
R+h = orbital radius of the
satellite
• According to the law of
gravitation, the force of gravity on the satellite is
F = GMm/(R+h)2
• The centripetal force required by the satellite to keep it in its orbit is
F = mv02/(R+h)
Orbital velocity …..
• In equilibrium, the centripetal force is just provided by the
gravitational pull of the earth, so

• When h = 0,
Relation between Orbital velocity and Escape velocity

• The orbital velocity of a satellite = 7.92 kms-1 .

• It is independent of the mass of the satellite.
• It depends on mass and radius of the planet.
• It decreases with the increase in the radius of the orbit and with
increase in the height of the satellite.
➢Geo-stationary satellites
• A satellite which revolves around the earth in its
equatorial plane with the same angular speed and in
the same direction as the earth rotates about its own
axis is called a geostationary or synchronous satellite.
• Its relative velocity with respect to the earth will be
zero.
• It appears stationary to an observer on the earth.
• Its sense of rotation is from west to east.
• Its period of revolution is 24 hours.
• It revolves at a height of nearly 36,000 km above the
earth’s surface.
Uses of geostationary satellites
• In communicating radio, T.V and telephone
signals across the world. Geostationary satellites
act as reflectors of such signals.
• In studying upper regions of the atmosphere.
• In forecasting weather.
• In determining the exact shape and dimensions
of the earth.
• In studying meteorites.
• In studying solar radiations and cosmic rays.