Ptolemy (2000 years ago)

Sun

Earth
Nicolaus Copernicus (16th century) proposed
The heliocentric (sun-centered) scheme

Earth

Sun
Newton’s law of universal gravitation

Force of attraction between m1 and m2 is:

m1m2
F 2 m2
r

m1
 m1m2 1 3 2
F G 2 dim[G ]  M L T
r
G is called the universal gravitational constant.
r
F21  Force on m2 by m1
r r m2
F12  Force on m1 by m2 F21
r r
F12  F21  F
r
F12 r

m1
 Experiment to find G

Gravitational torque
Quartz fiber
 GmM L
 2 2 
 r 2
m
mirror M

Cavendish 1798
scale
Restoring torque  

Quartz fiber

 can be measured by
observing the m
deflection of the M
beam of the light mirror

reflected from
the small mirror.


scale
In equilibrium both torques will be equal:

GmML  r 2
2
   G 
r GmML
Quartz fiber
 can be found from
I 4 2 I m
T  2   2 M
 T mirror

mL2
with I 
2

G  6.67259 1011 N .m 2 / kg 2 
scale
 Mass of the Earth

The magnitude of the force with which Earth

attracts the body towards its centre is
m
GmM E
F
RE 2 RE
Apply law of motion:
GmM E
F  mg 
RE 2
gRE 2 RE  6400 km
 ME   5.97  1024 kg
G
 Density of the Earth

Considering Earth to a perfect sphere, we can

find its density
4
Volume of Earth  VE   RE 3
3 RE
 1.08 10 21 m3
VE
 Density of Earth   E 
ME
 5462 kg m 3

which is 5.5 times the density of the water

 Gravitational Potential
It is the work done in moving a unit mass from
infinity to a given point.
r

U (r ) GM
V (r )  
m r
r
Proof: Conservation of energy says,
0 
dV   Fdr  
V ( R)
dV    drF
r

r

dr 1
0  V ( R )  GM  2  GM r 
R
r  R
GM
V ( R)  
R
R
Potential energy near the surface of Earth

1 1 
U  U ( R  h)  U ( R )  GMm   
 R Rh

 GMm 1 
1 
 1 h / R 

  GMm 1   1  h / R 
1

1 h / R
1
For h = R,  1 h / R

 GM 
U  GMm  1   1  h / R    m  h  mgh
 R 
 Escape Velocity
r 
 KE  PE  r  R   KE  PE  r 
1 2 GMm
mve   00
2 R

2GM
ve   2 gR
R
Earth escape: v e  11.2 km/s
Sun escape: v e  618 km/s
 Black Holes
r 

2GM
ve 
R
put ve  c
2GM
R
c2
is called the Schwarzchild
radius of a black hole
 Orbital Velocity
2
mv GMm GM
 2  vo 
o
r r r
If R is the radius of the planet
and h is the height of the
satellite above the surface,
then r  R  h

GM GM
vo  , for h = R, v o   gR
Rh R
 Time Period Of Revolution

2 2 r
T 
 vo
r 2 3/ 2
 2 r  r
GM GM

4 3 2
or T 
2
r
GM
i.e., T 2  r3
 Energy of a Satellite
E  KE  PE
1 2 GMm
 mvo 
2 r
GM
but v 
2
o
r

1 GMm GMm 1 GMm

E   
2 r r 2 r
 Geostationary Satellite
An Earth satellite so positioned that it appears
stationary to an observer on Earth is called a
geostationary satellite. Its time period of revolution
is I day.
4  2
T 
2
r 3

GM
2 2
 GM  RT gRT
r 
3
 2 
 R  4 4 2

 42.33 106 m
 Height of the satellite  r  R  35.93 10 m
6
 Kepler’s laws of planetary motion

1) Law of Orbits
All planets move in elliptic orbits with Sun at one
focus.

m
M r

a
 2) Law of Areas
The line joining a planet to the Sun sweeps out
equal areas in equal intervals of time.
1
 A  r  r  
2
dA A 
 lim
dt t 0  t r 
1 2  
 r  lim  M r A
2  t  0 t  
1 2 L
 r 
2 2m
 3) Law of Periods
The square of the period of revolution of any
planet is proportional to the cube of the planet’s
mean distance from the Sun.
Lets prove this result for circular orbits
GMm 2
2
 m r , where  
2

r T
2
GM  2   4 2
 3
 2   r or T  
2
r
r  T   GM 
A similar result is obtained for elliptic orbits, with the
radius r replaced by the semi major axis a.
 A planet has a speed v1 at a distance d1
from the Sun. What will be its speed at
distance d 2 ?
Using the law of conservation of angular
momentum
v1d1
mv 2 d 2  mv1d1  v 2 
d2

M v2
v1
d1 d2
energy conservation:

GMm 1 2 GMm 1 2
  mv1    mv 2
d1 2 d2 2

v1d1
v2 
d2

d1 d2
 Solving these equations, we get

2GMd 2
v1 
d1  d1  d 2 
2GMd1d 2
 Angular momentum  mv1d1  m
 d1  d 2 

d1 d2
 Sling shot effect
vi  v
m
Sling shot effect is a
non-impact collision
V M
used to give an extra
boost to spacecraft
x
QM ? m vf  ?
V will remain constant during the interaction

This is a one dimensional elastic collision !

speed of approach = speed of recession

vi  v
m
vi  V    vf  V 
V M
vf    v  2V 

vf  ? x
Gravitational effect of a spherical
distribution of matter
M

“A uniform spherical shell of matter exerts

no gravitational force on a particle located
inside it.”
 Gravitational effect of a spherical
distributional of matter
M
m m
 M

“A uniformly dense spherical shell attracts an

external point mass as if the mass of the shell
were concentrated at its center”
 Variation of g
Value of g at the surface of the Earth
The magnitude of the force with
which Earth attracts the body m
towards its center is
GmM E RE
F  mg  2
RE
GM E
g
RE 2
Value of g will be constant all over the surface for
a perfectly spherical Earth
 b) Variation of g with altitude
m
The magnitude of the force
with which Earth attracts the
body towards its center is h
h  RE
GmM E
F
 h  RE 
2
RE

According to Newton’s second law

GmM E GM E
F  mg h   gh 
 h  RE   h  RE 
2 2
 GM E GM E g
gh   
 h  RE 
2 2 2
 h   h 
R 1 
2
E  1  
 RE   RE 
h
For h = RE , or = 1
RE
2
 h   2h 
g h  g 1   ; g 1  
 RE   RE 

For h  0, g h  g
c) Variation of g depth below the surface of Earth

d m
RE  d

As the particle lies inside

the shell of radius d ,
there is no force on the
particle due to the shell.
The only force exerted
on the particle comes from RE
the sphere of radius RE  d .
 4 3
Mass of the smaller sphere  M E   E    RE  d  
3 
4 3
but  E  M E /   RE 
3 
Now the force will be d m
GmM E
F  mg d  RE  d
 RE  d 
2

GM E  d 
 gd  1  
RE2  RE 

 d 
 g 1  
 RE  RE
 For d  RE , g d  0

The value of g is zero at the center of the Earth

gr

RE r
where r is distance from the center of the Earth