GRAVITATION

UMIATIN, M.SI
FISIKA UNJ
1. Newton’s Law of Gravitation

Each mass particle attracts every other

particle in the universe with a force that
varies directly as the product of two
masses and inversely as the square of the
distance between them.
• Two system particle
• For the continuous distribution of mass :
• Defined g as the gravitational field vector :

• or
2 Potential & Potential Energy
• Gravitational force from the Earth on a particle of
mass m located at a distance r from Earth’s
center :

• The Earth is assumed to be a uniform sphere of

mass M. The corresponding gravitational field, g
defined as the gravitational force per unit mass :
• Notice that g only depends on M, the mass
which creates the field, and r, the distance from
M. Consider moving a particle of mass m
under the influence of gravity :
• The work done by gravity in moving m
from A to B is

• Wg is independent of the path taken; it

depends only on A and B. Wg the work
done by the field and Wext the work done
by an external agent such as you.
• They simply differ by a negative sign:
Wg = -Wext
• The work done by gravity in moving object
from yA to yB is :
• The result again is independent of the
path, and is only a function of the change
in vertical height, yB – yA.

• .If the path forms a closed loop, so that the

object moves around and then returns to
where it starts off, the net work done by
the gravitational field would be zero, and
we say that the gravitational force is
conservative.
• More generally, a force F is said to be
conservative if its line integral around a closed
loop vanishes:

• When dealing with a conservative force, it is

often convenient to introduce the concept of
potential energy U. The change in potential
energy associated with a conservative force
acting on an object as it moves from A to B is
defined as:
• W is the work done by the force on the
object. In the case of gravity, W = Wg, so
potential energy can be writen as :

• Uo is an arbitrary constant which depends

on a reference point. It is often convenient
to choose a reference point where Uo is
equal to zero.
• Near Earth’s surface where the
gravitational field g is approximately
constant, as an object moves from the
ground to a height h, the change in
potential energy is ΔU = +mgh , and the
work done by gravity is W = −mgh .
• A concept which is closely related to
potential energy is “potential.” From, the
gravitational potential can be obtained as

• Physically ΔV represents the negative of

the work done per unit mass by gravity to
move a particle from A to B.
• The gravitational potential depend on the
mass distribution :
Relation Between Gravitational Field and
Gravitational Potential
• The gravitational field vector varies with
1/r2 so g may be represented as gradient of
gravitational potential :
• The physical meaning of gravitational potential
become clear if we consider the work done per unit
mass that must be done by external agent in the
gravitational field to displace a body a distance dr.

• The work done = potential difference

• The potential Energy :

• The force acting on a body :

• Example : What is the gravitational
potential both inside and outside a
spherical shell with inner radius b and
outer radius a ?
illustration
• Outside the spherical shell
• Plot :
Poisson Equation

• Consider an arbitrary surface with a mass

m is placed inside
• Gravitational flux emanating from m
through the arbitrary surface S :

• Substitute g from the equation before :

• We get :
• Using simple vector operation, finally we
get :
3. Equipotential Surfaces

• The potential function is defined at any

point of space :
When is the concept of Potential Useful ?

• The potential is scalar, so it’s easier to find

the force (quantity of interaction) after we
find the potential. We will not confused by
vector operation
• Example : Consider a thin uniform disk of
mass M and radius a. Find the force on m
located on the axis of the disk.
– A. Find Force through Potential
– B. Find Force directly