Chapter 8: Gravity

Prepared by: Dael, Tan, Estrellanes, Mirador

Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation
Weight, and Gravitational Field
• According to Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation “Every
particle of matter attracts every other particle with a force
proportional to the product of their masses and inversely
proportional to the square of the distance between them.”
• In equation form this can be written as;
𝐺𝑚 𝑚
 eqn1 𝐹𝑔 = 12 1 where 𝐹𝑔 is the magnitude of the
𝑟
gravitational force, 𝑚1 and 𝑚2 are the masses of the
interacting particles, r is the distance between the particle,
and G is a fundamental physical constant known as the
Universal Gravitational Constant.
• The value of the Universal Gravitational Constant is
 G= 6.674 × 10−11 N𝑚2 /𝑘𝑔2
Figure 1: Force of gravitation experienced by each mass due to the other
mass has equal magnitude and opposite directions

• Example 1. Two masses, 1 kg and 0.5 kg, respectively are 1 m

apart. Calculate the force of attraction between the two
masses. What are the accelerations of the two masses?
 𝐺𝑚1 𝑚1
• Use eqn1 𝐹𝑔 = to calculate the magnitude of Fg
𝑟2

−11 N𝑚2
6.674×10 (0.5𝑘𝑔)(1𝑘𝑔)
𝑘 2
𝑔
• 𝐹𝑔 =
1𝑚2

•
=