Paramount Physics Cafe

Teaching A2 Physics skills

Physics
Advanced Level

Chapter @ Gravitational field

1. Two spheres o f radius 0.50 cm and masses 150 g and 35O g are placed so that their
centres are 4.8 cm apart
(a) Calculate the force on the 150 g sphere

(b) Write down the force on the 350 g sphere

2. Calculate the gravitational field strength at the surface of the Mars.

(Radius of Mars 3.4 ×103 km , mass of Mars 6.4 ×1023 Kg)

3. A satellite is to be placed in a polar orbit 100 Km above the earth’s surface. Calculate

a) the period of the orbit.

b) the speed of the satellite .

4. Calculate the height above the earth that a satellite must be placed for it to orbit in a
geostationary manner. (mass of the earth 6.0× 10 24 Kg , radius of the earth 6.4× 10 6 m )

5.

Two stars of mass 6.2x l032kg and M kg are 1.4 x 1016 m apart. The net gravitational force
is zero at P 1.5 x 1015 m from M along the line between the two stars.What is the value of M
?

6. The radius of the earth is 6.4×106 m and acceleration due to gravity on the surface of the
earth is 9.8 ms-2 . Find the magnitude of acceleration due to gravity at 6.4×105 m height.

7.If the earth is considered as a sphere of radius 6400 km, at what height the value of the
𝟏
acceleration due to gravity will be 𝟔𝟒 of the acceleration due to the gravity on the earth
surface.

8. At what height above the surface of the earth the value of g = 4.9ms-2 ?
9. Calculate the distance from the centre of the earth where the resultant gravitational force
becomes zero when a spacecraft is launched from the earth to the moon.

10. a) Calculate the value of g/at points R,2R,3R, 4R and 5R from the centre of the Earth,
where R is the Earth's radius.

b) Use your values from part (a) to plot a graph of g against distance from the Earth, starting
at the Earth's surface

11. Find the gravitational field strength at

a) the surface and ,

b) 1.0 x 106 m above the surface, of a star of radius 1.2 x 106 m. The mass of the star is
1.5 x 1030kg ,G= 6.67 X 10-11 N m2 kg-2

12. Find the mass of the Earth given that its radius is 6400 km and g at the surface is 9.81 N
kg-1. (G= 6.67 X 10-11 N m2 kg-2)

13.A spaceship orbits the Moon travelling at 1460ms-1. How high is it above the Moon's
Surface ? The Moon has a mass of 7.35 x 1022 kg and a radius of 1.74 x 106 m
(G= 6.67 X 10-11 N m2 kg-2)

14.A geostationary satellite must orbit the Earth along a path of radius 4.23 x 107 m. Use
this information to calculate
a) the speed of the satellite
b) the gravitational field strength at this height, and
c) the mass of the Earth.
(G= 6.67 X 10-11 N m2 kg-2)
15. The radius of the Earth is 6.4 ×106 m and the gravitational field strength at its surface is
9.8 N kg-1.
(a) Assuming that the field is radial, calculate the mass of the Earth.

(b) The radius of the Moon's orbit about the earth is 3.8× 108 m. calculate the strength of
the Earth’s gravitational field at this distance.

(c) The mass of the Moon is 7.4 x1022 kg. Calculate the gravitational attraction between t he
Earth and the Moon. (gravitational constant G = 6.7 x10-11 Nm2Kg-2)

16. The mass of Jupiter is 1 .9x l027 kg and its radius is 7.1x 107m. Calculate the
gravitational field strength at the surface of the Jupiter.
(gravitational constant G = 6.7 x10-11 Nm2Kg-2)

Answer for Gravitational Field

1. (a) (1.5× 10-9 N)

(b) (In accordance with Newton's third law, the force on the 350g mass will' also be 1.5 x lo -9
N but in the opposite direction')

2. (3.7 N/Kg towards the centre of the Mars)

3.a) (1.4 h) b) (7.8 kms-1)

7
4. (3.6×10 m) 5. (8.9 x 1030 kg) 6. (8.099 ms-2) 7. (4.48×104 km)

8. (2.65× 106 m) 9. (3.6×105 Km)

10.a)

distance R 2R 3R 4R 5R
g(Nkg-1) 9.77 2.44 1.09 0.61 0.39

11.a) ( 6.9 x107 Nkg-1.) b) ( 2.1 x107 Nkg-1)

12. (6.02 X 1024 kg) 13. (5.60 x 105 m) 14.a. (3080 ms-1) b. (0.224 Nkg-1)

c. (6.01 x 1024 kg) 15.a. ( 6 .0x1024 kg) b. ( 2.8x l0-3 Nkg-1) c. ( 2.1x 1020 N)

16. (25 Nkg-1)