Physics : Gravitational Fields & Circular

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Motion.
Gravitational Fields
De ning Gravitational Field

• There is a force of attraction between all masses.

• This force is known as the ‘force due to gravity’ or the weight.

• The Earth’s gravitational eld is responsible for the weight of all objects on Earth.

• A gravitational eld is de ned as:

A region of space where a mass experiences a force due to the gravitational attraction of
another mass.

• The direction of the gravitational eld is always towards the centre of the mass.

◦ Gravitational forces cannot be repulsive

• The strength of this gravitational eld (g) at a point is the force (Fg) per unit mass (m) of an object
at that point:

• Where:

◦ g = gravitational eld’s strength (N kg^-1).

◦ Fg = force due to gravity, or weight (N).

◦ m = mass (kg).

• This equations tells us:

◦ On planets with a large value of g, the gravitational force per unit mass is greater
than on planets with a smaller value of g.

• On such planets such as Jupiter, an object's mass remains the same at all points in space.
However, their weight will be a lot greater meaning for example, a human will be unable to fully
stand up.

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Motion.

Representing Gravitational
Fields

• The direction of a gravitational eld is

represented by gravitational eld lines.

• The gravitational eld lines around a point

mass are radially inwards.

• The gravitational eld lines of a uniform eld,

where the eld strength is the same at all
points, is represented by equally spaced
parallel lines.

◦ For example, the elds lines on

the Earth’s surface.

• Radial elds are considered non-uniform

elds.

◦ The gravitational eld strength

g is di erent depending on how
far you are from the centre.

• Parallel eld lines on the Earth’s surface are considered a uniform eld.

◦ The gravitational eld strength g is the same throughout.

Point Mass Approximation

• For a point outside a uniform sphere, the

mass of the sphere may be considered to
be a point mass at its centre.

◦ A uniform sphere is one where its

mass is distributed evenly.

• The gravitational eld lines around a uniform

sphere are therefore identical to those
around a point mass.

• An object can be regarded as point mass

when:

A body covers a very large distance as

compared to its size, so, to study its
motion, its size or dimensions can be
neglected.

• An example of this is eld lines around

planets.Radial elds are considered non-
uniform elds.

◦ So, the gravitational eld strength g is di erent depending on how far you are from
the centre of mass of the sphere.

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Motion.

Gravitational Force Between Point Masses

Newton's Law of Gravitation

• The gravitational force between two bodies outside a uniform eld, e.g. between the Earth and
the Sun, is de ned by Newton’s Law of Gravitation.

◦ Recall that the mass of a uniform sphere can be considered to be a point mass at its
centre.

• Newton’s Law of Gravitation states that:

The gravitational force between two point masses is proportional to the product of the
masses and inversely proportional to the square their separation.

• In equation form, this can be written as:

• Where:

◦ FG = gravitational force between two masses (N).

◦ G = Newton’s gravitational constant.

◦ m1 and m2 = two points masses (kg).

◦ r = distance between the centre of the two masses (m).

• Although planets are not point masses, their separation is much larger than their radius.

◦ Therefore, Newton’s law of gravitation applies to planets orbiting the Sun.

• The 1/r2 relation is called the ‘inverse square law’.

• This means that when a mass is twice as far away from another, its force due to gravity reduces
by (½)2 = ¼.

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Motion.
Circular Orbits in Gravitational Fields
Circular Orbits in Gravitational Fields

• Since most planets and satellites have a near circular orbit, the gravitational force FG between
the sun or another planet provides the centripetal force needed to stay in an orbit.

• Both the gravitational force and centripetal force are perpendicular to the direction of travel of
the planet.

• Consider a satellite with mass m orbiting Earth with mass M at a distance r from the centre
travelling with linear speed v.

• Equating the gravitational force to the centripetal force for a planet or satellite in orbit gives:

• The mass of the satellite m will cancel out on both sides to give:

• This means that all satellites, whatever their mass, will travel at the same speed v in a particular
orbit radius r.

• Recall that since the direction of a planet orbiting in circular motion is constantly changing, it
has centripetal acceleration.

Kepler’s Third Law

of Planetary Motion
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Motion.
• For the orbital time period T to travel the circumference of the orbit 2πr, the linear speed v can
be written as:

• This is a result of the well-known equation, speed = distance / time.

• Substituting the value of the linear speed v into the above equation:

• Rearranging leads to Kepler’s third law equation:

• The equation shows that the orbital period T is related to the radius r of the orbit. This is known
as Kepler’s third law:

For planets or satellites in a circular orbit about the same central body, the square of the
time period is proportional to the cube of the radius of the orbit.

• Kepler’s third law can be summarised as:

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Motion.
Geostationary Orbits
Geostationary Orbits

• Many communication satellites around Earth follow a geostationary orbit.

• This is a speci c type of orbit in which the satellite:

◦ Remains directly above the equator, therefore, it always orbits at the same point
above the Earth’s surface.

◦ Moves from west to east (same direction as the Earth spins).

◦ Has an orbital time period equal to Earth’s rotational period of 24 hours.

• Geostationary satellites are used for telecommunication transmissions (e.g. radio) and television
broadcast.

• A base station on Earth sends the TV signal up to the satellite where it is ampli ed and
broadcast back to the ground to the desired locations.

• The satellite receiver dishes on the surface must point towards the same point in the sky.

◦ Since the geostationary orbits of the satellites are xed, the receiver dishes can be
xed too.

Geostationary satellite in orbit.

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Motion.
Gravitational Field Strength
Deriving Gravitational Field Strength (g)

• The gravitational eld strength at a point describes how strong or weak a gravitational eld is
at that point.

• The gravitational eld strength due to a point mass can be derived from combining the
equations for Newton’s law of gravitation and gravitational eld strength.

◦ For calculations involving gravitational forces, a spherical mass can be treated as a

point mass at the centre of the sphere.

• Newton’s law of gravitation states that the attractive force F between two masses M and m with
separation r is equal to:

• The gravitational eld strength at a point is de ned as the force F per unit mass m.

• Substituting the force F with the gravitational force FG leads to:

• Cancelling mass m, the equation becomes:

• Where:

◦ g = gravitational eld strength (N kg^-1).

◦ G = Newton’s Gravitational Constant (6.67 x 10^-11 N m^2 Kg^-2).

◦ M = mass of the body producing the gravitational eld (kg).

◦ r = distance from the mass where you are calculating the eld strength (m).

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Motion.
Calculating g

• Gravitational eld strength, g, is a vector quantity.

• The direction of g is always towards the centre of the body creating the gravitational eld.

◦ This is the same direction as the gravitational eld lines.

• On the Earth’s surface, g has a constant value of 9.81 N kg^-1.

• However outside the Earth’s surface, g is not constant.

◦ g decreases as r increases by a factor of 1/r2.

◦ This is an inverse square law relationship with distance.

• When g is plotted against the distance from the centre of a planet, r has two parts:

◦ When r < R, the radius of the planet, g is directly proportional to r.

◦ When r > R, g is inversely proportional to r2 (this is an ‘L’ shaped curve and shows
that g decreases rapidly with increasing distance r).

• Graph showing how gravitational eld strength varies at greater distance from the Earth’s
surface.

• Sometimes, g is referred to as the ‘acceleration due to gravity’ with units of m s^-2.

• Any object that falls freely in a uniform gravitational eld on Earth has an acceleration of 9.81 m
s^-2.

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Motion.
The Value of g on Earth
• Gravitational eld strength g is approximately constant for small changes in height near the
Earth’s surface (9.81 m s-2).

• This is because from the inverse square law relationship:

• The value of g depends on the distance from the centre of Earth r.

• On the Earth’s surface, r is equal to the radius of the Earth = 6400 km.

• Since this is much larger than the distance between the surface of the earth and centre of mass
of an object on it, the small changes in height near the Earth’s surface make very little di erence
to the value of g.

• If we take a position h above the Earth’s surface, where it is reasonable to assume h is much
smaller than the radius of the Earth (h << R):

• This means g remains approximately constant until a signi cant distance away from the Earth’s
surface.

Gravitational Potential
• The gravitational potential energy (G.P.E) is the energy an object has when lifted o the ground
given by the familiar equation:

G.P.E = mgΔh

• The G.P.E on the surface of the Earth is taken to be 0.

◦ This means work is done to lift the object.

• However, outside the Earth’s surface, G.P.E can be de ned as:

The energy an object possesses due to its position in a gravitational eld.

• The gravitational potential at a point is the gravitational potential energy per unit mass at that
point.

• Therefore, the gravitational potential is de ned as:

The work done per unit mass in bringing a test mass from in nity to a de ned point.
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Motion.
Calculating Gravitational Potential

• The equation for gravitational potential ɸ is de ned by the mass M and distance r :

• Where:

◦ ɸ = gravitational potential (J kg^-1).

◦ G = Newton’s gravitational constant.

◦ M = mass of the body producing the gravitational eld (kg).

◦ r = distance from the centre of the mass to the point mass (m).

• The gravitational potential is negative near an isolated mass, such as a planet, because the
potential when r is at in nity is de ned as 0.

• Gravitational forces are always attractive so as r decreases, positive work is done by the mass
when moving from in nity to that point.

◦ When a mass is closer to a planet, its gravitational potential becomes smaller (more
negative).

◦ As a mass moves away from a planet, its gravitational potential becomes larger (less
negative) until it reaches 0 at in nity.

• This means when the distance (r) becomes very

large, the gravitational force tends rapidly towards
0 at a point further away from a planet.

• Gravitational potential increases and decreases

depending on whether the object is travelling
towards or against the eld lines from in nity.

Gravitational Potential Energy

Gravitational Potential Energy Between Two Point Masses

• The gravitational potential energy (G.P.E) at point in a gravitational eld is de ned as:

 The work done in bringing a mass from in nity to that point.

• The equation for G.P.E of two point masses m and M at a distance r is:

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Motion.
• The change in G.P.E is given by:

ΔG.P.E = mgΔh

• Where:

◦ m = mass of the object (kg)

◦ ɸ = gravitational potential at that point (J kg^-1)

◦ Δh = change in height (m)

• Recall that at in nity, ɸ = 0 and therefore G.P.E = 0.

• It is more useful to nd the change in G.P.E e.g. a satellite lifted into space from the Earth’s
surface.

• The change in G.P.E from for an object of mass m at a distance r1 from the centre of mass M,
to a distance of r2 further away is:

Change in gravitational potential energy between two points.

• The change in potential Δɸ is the same, without the mass of the object m:

Change in gravitational potential between two points.

• Gravitational potential energy increases as a satellite leaves the surface of the Moon.

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Motion.
Radians & Angular Displacement
Radians & Angular Displacement

• In circular motion, it is more convenient to measure angular displacement in units of radians

rather than units of degrees.

• The angular displacement (θ) of a body in circular motion is de ned as:

The change in angle, in radians, of a body as it rotates around a circle.

• The angular displacement is the ratio of:

• Note: both distances must be measured in the same units e.g.

metres.

• A radian (rad) is de ned as:

The angle subtended at the centre of a circle by an arc equal

in length to the radius of the circle.

• Angular displacement can be calculated using the equation:

• When the angle is equal to one radian, the length of the arc (Δs) is equal to the radius (r) of the
circle.

• Where:

◦ Δθ = angular displacement, or angle of rotation (radians)

◦ s = length of the arc, or the distance travelled around the circle (m)

◦ r = radius of the circle (m)

• Radians are commonly written in terms of π.

• The angle in radians for a complete circle (360o) is equal to:

• If an angle of 360o = 2π radians, then 1 radian in degrees is equal to:

• Use the following equation to convert from degrees to radians:

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Motion.
Angular Speed
• Any object travelling in a uniform circular motion at the same speed travels with a constantly
changing velocity.

• This is because it is constantly changing direction, and is therefore accelerating.

• The angular speed (⍵) of a body in circular motion is de ned as:

The rate of change in angular displacement with respect to time.

• Angular speed is a scalar quantity, and is measured in rad

s^-1.

• When an object is in uniform circular motion, velocity constantly

changes direction, but the speed stays the same.

Calculating Angular Speed

• Taking the angular displacement of a complete cycle as 2π, the angular speed ⍵ can be
calculated using the equation:

• Where:

◦ Δθ = change in angular displacement (radians )

◦ Δt = time interval (s)

◦ T = the time period (s)

◦ f = frequency (Hz)

• Angular velocity is the same as angular speed, but it is a vector quantity.

• When an object travels at constant linear speed v in a circle of radius r, the angular velocity is
equal to:

• Where:

◦ v is the linear speed (m s^-1)

◦ r is the radius of orbit (m)

• This equation tells us:

◦ The greater the rotation angle θ in a given amount of time, the greater the angular velocity ⍵.

◦ An object rotating further from the centre of the circle (larger r) moves with a smaller angular
velocity (smaller ⍵).

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Motion.
Centripetal Acceleration
What Causes Centripetal Acceleration?

• Velocity and acceleration  are both vector  quantities.

• An object in uniform circular motion is continuously changing direction, and therefore is

constantly changing velocity.

◦ The object must therefore be accelerating.

• This is called the centripetal acceleration and is perpendicular to the direction of the linear
speed.

◦ Centripetal means it acts towards the centre of the circular path.

• Centripetal force and acceleration are always directed towards the centre of the circle.

• The centripetal acceleration is caused by a centripetal force of constant magnitude that also
acts perpendicular to the direction of motion (towards the centre).

• Therefore, the centripetal acceleration and force act in the same direction.
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Motion.
Relating Centripetal Acceleration & Angular Speed

• An object travelling in uniform circular motion has centripetal acceleration, yet its angular
speed (⍵) is constant.

◦ This is because speed is a scalar quantity, whilst velocity is a vector quantity.

◦ Therefore, angular speed is the magnitude (size) component of angular velocity.

• Key ideas to remember:

◦ Angular speed (magnitude) stays constant, angular velocity (direction) is constantly

changing.

◦ Angular speed does not change with radius, but linear speed does.

◦ The object’s centripetal acceleration is always directed toward the centre of the
circle, and is perpendicular to the object’s velocity at any one time.

◦ Velocity and acceleration are both de ned by a change in direction, not just a
change in the magnitude.

Calculating Centripetal Acceleration

• Centripetal acceleration is de ned as:

The acceleration of an object towards the centre of a circle when an object is in motion
(rotating) around a circle at a constant speed.

• It can be de ned using the radius r and linear speed v:

• Using the equation relating angular speed ω and linear speed v:

 v = r⍵

• These equations can be combined to give another form of the centripetal acceleration equation:

• This equation shows that centripetal acceleration is equal to the radius times the square of the
angular speed.

• Alternatively, rearrange for r:

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Motion.

• This equation can be combined with the rst one to give us another form of the centripetal
acceleration equation:

• This equation shows how the centripetal acceleration relates to the linear speed and the angular
speed.

• Centripetal acceleration is always directed toward the centre of the circle, and is perpendicular
to the object’s velocity.

• Where:

◦ a = centripetal acceleration (m s^−2)

◦ v = linear speed (m s^−1)

◦ ⍵ = angular speed (rad s^−1)

◦ r = radius of the orbit (m)

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Motion.
Calculating Centripetal Force
• An object moving in a circle is not in equilibrium, it has a resultant force acting upon it.

◦ This is known as the centripetal force and is what keeps the object moving in a
circle.

• The centripetal force (F) is de ned as:

The resultant force towards the centre of the circle required to keep a body in uniform
circular motion. It is always directed towards the centre of the body's rotation.

•  Centripetal force can be calculated using:

• Centripetal force is always perpendicular to the direction of travel.

• Where:

◦ F = centripetal force (N)

◦ v = linear velocity (m s^-1)

◦ ⍵ = angular speed (rad s^-1)

◦ r = radius of the orbit (m)

• Note: centripetal force and centripetal acceleration act in the same direction.

◦ This is due to Newton’s Second Law.

• The centripetal force is not a separate force of its own.

◦ It can be any type of force, depending on the situation, which keeps an object
moving in a circular path.

• Examples of centripetal force:

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