Appeffidix 3

A3.1 Deduction of the Law of Universal Gravitation

How did Isaac Newton come to deduce his Law of Universar Gravitation:
Firstly, having decided that, for example. an appie falls because the Earth must be exerling an
attractive force on the apple, it follows that this attractive force must be proportional to the
mass of the falling object, as follows. A1l fatling objects, near the surface of th" Burth, have the
same acceleration, a : 9.80ms-2. But, by Newton's second law of motion, the force on an
acceleratiag body is given by F : ma. Therefore, if acceleration is constant, the force on the
body is directly proportional to the mass of the body. ,Ihus the force that the Earth exerts on a
body near its surface is drectly proportionai to the mass of the body. This is why the word
gravity was chosen as the name of this force, from the Lattn.gravitas meaning "weight',, as the
-
rnagnitude or the force depends on the mass (and hence weight), of the body; ,
Secondly, as far as the universe is concemed a body is a
body is a body, whether it is the Earth or an apple. The
only difference between them is that one hapfens to be
much larger than the other. Therefore if the Earth is
atlracting the apple with a force directly proporlional to the
mass of the apple, then the apple should be attracting the
Earth with a force directly proportional to the mass of the
Earth. Thus we have a mutuai force of attraction. Each
body atfracts the other body and thus the forces that each
body exerts on the other are opposite in direction. From
here it is a simple logical deduction to suggest that these
forces should be equal in magnitude, thus tying in neatly, to
accord with Newton's third law of motion. Thus the
magnitude of the force of athaction must . be directly
proportional to each of the masses of the two bodies.
Thirdly, how did Newton deduce that the force must be
inversely proportional to the square of the distance between Sir Isaac Newton (1642
the two bodies?
- 1727)

For thousands of years astronomsrs had been observing the sky and making more and more
precise measurements of astronomical data. The distance of the Moon from the Earth was
known with reasonable accuraey; as ,was'theperiod.of..the Moonls orbit around the,Earth. . From
this, assuming that,t p Moon is rnoving,,in,a, circular path and.using knorv,l.edgp.::of,,the, period
and radius of the Moon's orbit, he could,calculate,the.eenkipetal,acc.eleration,.of.the ivloon
This centripetal acceleration, using presentday,valueso is approximately equal:to 0.00272ms-2.
Newton suggested that, in the same way as the gravitational attraction of the Earth on the apple
caused it to fall, it was the same force of gravitational athaction of the Earttr on the Mion,
which held the Moon in its circular orbit. If the Moon were near the surface of me Baiihits
acceleration towards the Earth would be 9.8ms-2, And 0. 00272 9.g / 3600. Thus, as the
=
force on a body is directly proportional to its mass, the force of athaction of the Earth on the
Moon in its orbit is approximately
** of its magnitude on the Earth,s surface.
Now the mean radius of the Earth is 637lkm and the mean distance of the Moon from the Earth
is 384,400krn And 384,400 I 6371* 60.3. Thus increasing the distanie of a body from the
centre of the earth by a factcr of 60 reduces the gravitational-forr. on thal body by a factoiof
3600.
Therefore the gravitational force must be inversely proportional to the square of the distance
between the two bodies.
Finally, as meationed previously, as far as the universe is concerned a body is a body is a body.
There is nothing particularly special about the Earth, an apple or the Moon. Therefore Newton
concluded that all bodies in the universe athact all other bodies with a force that has the above
properties,
 166 Physics Key ldeas

A3.2 The Gravitational Field

Action at a Distance
the lorce of
As already mentioned in the text in Section 3.1.2, "Notes on the Law of Universal Gravitation",
gravity is an exampl e of action at a distance. That is, two bodies exert a force on each other without
actually coming into contact with each other.
When Newton {irst proposed this law, there was a certain amount of unease amongst his contemporaries
about this concept of"action at a distance", about the whole idea ofone body to be able to exert a force on
another body without them ever coming into contact. (Imagine horv astonished you rvould be if one of your
frields rvere to point his finger at an object 10n-r away and cause the object to movel) Horvever the Larv of
Universal Gravitation was so successful in explaining astronomical and other observations that the concept
had to be accepted.
Horvever this did not stop philosophical speculation as to how this was possible. For example consider the
foliowing question. Given two bodies, A and B, say - each is exerting a gravitational force on the other. If
*. *or" them further apart, how does body A know that body B has moved away and that therefore it has
to exefi a smaller force on it? This, and other similar questions of this type, were posed and argued about.
ltiese speculatiorls -were not confined to the force of gravity. There are other examples of "action at a
distance" - the electrostatic force of atlraction or repulsion between two charges and the magnetic force of
attraction or repuision between two poles of a magnet.
To come to terms with these questions scientists proposed the concept of a field - gravitational fields,
electric fields and magnetic f,relds. You will sometimes see these tkee forces referred to as "field forces".
In this section we will only discuss gravitational fields. You rvill study electric and magnetic fieids in some
detail later in this course.

The Gravitational Field

Any body with mass, in some way, modifies the space around it to create a gravitational field in that space.
In other words the presence of the mass changes the properties of space in its vicinify. The strength of the
gravitational field at any point depends on the mass of the body creating the field (the larger the mass the
it o.rg.. the field); and the distance of the point in question from the mass (the further the point in space is
from the mass, the weaker the field at that point).
Note that the gravitational field is not a concrete physical entity that we can see, feel, touch smell etc. It is a
theoretical, mathematicaVgeometric construct, for us to be able to come to grips with the philosophical
difficulties of"action at a distance".
'i We now visualise the gravitational force between two bodies, A and B say, as follows. Body A and body B
each have a gravitational field around them. Body A comes into contact with the gravitational field of body
B, and':it is the interaction of the mass of body A, and the gravitational field of body B, which causes the
gravitational force on body A. Similarly, body B comes into contact with the gravitational:'field of body A,
and it is the interaction of the mass of body A, and the gravitational field of body B, which causes tlre
gravitational force on body A.
Thus the gravitational force on a mass is caused by the interaction b€tween that mass and the gravitational
field of another mass, not by some direct interaction befween,two rnasses some distance apart.
We can now answer the question posed above. If body A moves firrtter away from body B, it is moving to a
region of space where the gravitational field of body B is weaker, and hence the iateraction befween the
mass of body A and the gravitational field of body B is weaker, and so the force on body A is weaker.
We can test for the presence of a gravitational field ia a region of space by placing a body in it. If the body
experiences a force because of its mass then a gravitational fietd is present, if it experiences no force then
thire is no gravitational held present. The stronger the fsrce experienced by the mass, the stronger the
gravitational field in that region of space'
The concept of a field was found to be very useful in answering such questions related to "action at a
distance" und hut become an irnportant concept and theory'in- Physics.

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 Appendi* 3 Gravitation and Safelifes t 67

Representation of Gravitational Fields

We represent gravitational (and all other) fields diagrammatically by drawing gravitational field liues or
"lines of force". For example, Figure A3.I represents the gravitational field u.ornd the Earth (or it ceuld be
any other mass).
The region of space around the Earth, in which the gravitational field
lines (or lines of force) have been drawn is the gravitational field of the
Earth. There are a variety of points to note aboutgravitational fields and
gravitational field lines used to represent the fields. We mention a few
of them below.
r Gravitational fie1d lines are directed lines, i.e. they are aiways drawn
rvith an arrow to represent thc directron of the gravitational field at
any point. The direction of the gravitationai field at any point near
some body rs the direction of the gravitational force on a mass
piaced at that point. Because any mass near the vicinity of the Earth
experiences a force directed torvards the centre of the Earth, the
direction of the gravitational fie1d at any point near the Earth is
radially in towards the centre of the Earth. This is why these lines Fig. ,{3.l
are called "lines of force" - the direction of these lines, at any point in the field, gives us the direction of
the gravitational force on a mass placed at that point.
o The direction of the gravitational held around any mass is directed in towards that mass.
. Any body, placed in a gravitational field, experiences a force in the direction ofthe field, because ofits
mass.
r l'he shength ofthe gravitational fieid at any point in the field is represented by the "areai" density ofthe
lines of force at that point, i.e. by the number of lines of force per unit area (where the area is taken
perpendicular to the field). That is, the closer together the lines of force at any point, the stronger the
field at tirat point; the further apart the lines of force at any point, the weaker the fie1d at that poini.
. The greater the mass of a body, the stronger the gravitational field that it creates at any point.
. The stronger the gravitational field at any point, the stronger the interaction between the field and a mass
piaced at that point. That is, the greater the force on a mass placed at tlat poial

G ravitational Field Strength

We know from our studies of motion near the surlace of the Earth that the gravitational force on a body is
directly proportional to the mass of that body.
i.e. F : *g where g: gravitational acceleration near the Earth's surface 9.80ms-2.
=
If we place a body of mass ,r, some distance above the surface of the Earth, we,can find the gravitational
force acting on it using Newton's law of universal gravitation, namely

.,,:-l
-9M,*
This tells us that the force on a body of mass n, placed at any point in a gravitational field, is directly
proportionalito its mass rz. Thus if we place a body of mass m at any poirt io a gravitational field and
measure the force acting on that body, the ratio Flm will be a constant and not dependent on the size of the
mass used. The value of this ratio depends only on the strength of the field at that point. Therefore, we use
this ratio as the measure of the gravitational field strength at that point.
The gravitational field strength at any point in a gravitational field is the force per unit mass on a mass
placed at that point.
'i.

c=L
-!
.{ l1 m
,.}
Note that this ratio represents, of course, the gravitational acceleration at that point. Thus the acceleration
a due to gravity at any point in a gravitational field is used to define the gravi&tional field strength at that
point. The gravitational acceleration vector gives us both the magnitude of the gravitational field and its
direction.

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 168 Physic,

A3.3 Gravitational Potential Energy

What is Gravitational Potential Energy?
energy if it has the ability to do work' A body
Energy is the ability to do mechanical work. A body has
For example, consider a body at some height above the
placed ln u g.uuituilonal f,reld po:,sesses energy.
it and gains kinetic energy. This body now can do
Earth,s surface. If allowed to fall freely, iccelerates
on which it falls or it could drive a pile into the ground etc'
rvork, e.g. it could break an object
that body possesses because of its location in a
The gravitational potential energt of a bocty is the energt
gravitational field.
its gravitational potential energy To raise
When we lift a body in the Earth's gravitational field we increase
to apply an upward force of magnitude mg in order
a body of mass * i"u, the surface of Earth, we
the need
force on that body, and, in raising the body some vertical distance i, rve do
to overcome the gravitational
as follows'
work on that bodf' The work done on the body can be calculated
W=Fs
Iry = ysh
must be equal to the.ilcrease in the energy of
But, by the conservation of cnergy, the work done on the body
h the surface of the Earth its gravitational
the body. ffr"r, *fr* a body i-s-raised a vertical distance neat
potential energy increases by an amount equal to mgh, and rvhen it falls through a vertical distance lr its
gravitational p"otential energy decreases by an amount equal to mgh'
vertical distance ft near the surface of the Earth,
Therefore, we can conclude that if a body moves through a
the change in its gravitational potential energy is given by
ME =mgh
the surface of the Earth its gravitational
Thus, if a body of mass 2kg is lifted through a distance of 5m ftom
Potential energy increases bY
ME =mgh
= 2x9'8x 5
= eSl

is converted back to
Ifthe body then falls back to the surface ofthe Earth, this gravitational potential energy
kinetic energy, and so when this body strikes the Earth it has 98J of kinetic
energy.

WhereisGravitationalPotentialEnergyEqualtoZero?
1 The simplistic answer to this question is "on the surface of the
Earth". But this is not true, as can be seen
imagine that I am standing on the surface of the Earth on the edge of a large
;:1.
from the following scenario.
hole. If i j;;p into that hole, I iill accelerate down, gaining kinetic energy as I
I do so. This increase in
I
from the conversion of gravitational potential energy into kinetic energy. Therefore
kinetic
".rJr!yio*"s
;ygiavlh6;al potential energy was not zero as I was standing at the edge of the hole.
ofJpr$y#9.the gg-ygrk
This question can only be answered by going back to the definitior ?9ilttylo ^rh€
of a body is zero if it no longer has'the abilitfito do work because ol lts
gravitational potentiai energy
position i' iti" g.*itutionai'field or the Earttr. This can only be if it is no
longer athacted to the Earth.

Because the graiitational force is a very long range force given by

F =GMrr*
r
the body will experience no attraction to the Earth when, theoretically,
it is an infinite distance from the
is a very long way from the centre
Earth. In fru"ri.", of course, the force will be negligibly small if the body
of the Ear;h, as the gravitational force is inverseli pioportional to
l.
zero when thebgfV is no longer attacted to
Thus the gravitational potential energy ofa body is effectively
theEartlr,,i.ewhentheiodyhasbeenremovedfromtheEarth,sgravitationalfield.
in the Earth's gravitational field we
This conclusion appears to lead us into a dilemma. As we,raise a body
potential energy' If we do a very large amount of work
do work on it and hence increase its gravitational
-potential
energy by a very large amount we lan remove from the
and hence increase its gravitational
we have increased its gravitational potential energy
influence of the Earth into deep ,pu"". Brrt, in doing so,
to the body we increase its gravitational potential energy to zero' This
t o zero. That is, by adding
"r,ergy in the nort section.
leads us inexorably to a very surprising conclusion discussed

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 Appendix 3 Gravitation and Safellites 169

Negative Potential EnergY

The only way we can reconcile the dilemma discussed in the previous section is to conclude that the
gravitational potential energy of a body in the Earth's gravitational field is negative. This is the only way
that we ca1 acld energy to it and have its gravitational potential energy finish up with an energy of zero when
it has been removed from the influence of the Earth's gravitational field.
In fact, it can be shown, using integral calculus, that the gravitational potential energy of a body in the
gravitational field of the Earth is given by
pE = _GM r^
where r is the distance of the body from the cenlre of the Larth.
Thus a man of mass i00kg standing on the equator has a gravitational potential energy, which can be
calculated, as follorvs.
GM -nt
IDD_
t) - --
.r
_ _ 6.673x10-" x5'977x 10'o x10'
6 .3782 x 10u

= -L?s32sf.ttr J

If this man is raised a distance of 100m from the surface of the Earth his gravitational potential energy
increases approximatelY bY
pE = mgh
=100x9.8xi00
= e'!!!l
In actual fact, his gravitational potential energy has increesed from -6.253257x lOeJ to -6'253 i59x10eJ.
To remove this man from the gravitational influence of the Earth, we have to give him approximately
6.254x10e1 of energy in order to raise his gravitational potential energy to zero.
We can use calculations such as the above to
. Determine the energy required to put a satellite in orbit around the Earth - just detennine its
gravitational potential energy at the Earth's surface and at its orbital radius and find the difference of the
two.
o Determine the energy that is needed to shoot a rocket into deep space, not just to put it into orbit about
the Earth, but remove it from the influence of the Earth's gravitational influence entirely - just find its
gravitational potential energy on the Earth's surface and this will tell you how much energy is needed to
raise the gravitational potential energy to zero.

Escape Velocity
Consider a space craft of mass mkgthztis to be fued into space so that it,escapes the.Earth's gravitational
field entirely. On the launch pad it has a gravitational potential enelgy given by

r '*
PE = -GM
For the space craft to escape the Earth's gravitational pull
completely, we need to raise its gravitational potential energy
xn =lp4
to zero. This increase in gravitationalpotential energy comes
from conversion of kinetic energy to gravitational potential
energy. Therefore we can determine the kinetic energy that
the craft must have, and.hence the speed that it must attain if it
is to escape ftona the Earth- This is called the escape velocity
of the Eartb, and it can be calculated, as in the box at right. 2x 6' 673x10-'i x 5. 977 x 10"
y=
In the above discussion we have been talking only of the Earth 6.3782x106
but, of course, the same considerations apply to
all
astronoruical bodies, with appropriate substitution of their = 1.12x100 ms-'
: masses in plaoe of ,he mass of the Earttr. = 11'2krni s
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 174 Physics Key ldeas Sfage 2 Ph

A3.4 Bound Systems

The precedingdiscussion on negative gravitational potential energies is an introduction into
the concept ofa
bound system. A bound system exists where two or more bodies are bound to each
other by athactive
forces. Some examples of bound systems are
' The Earth and the people on it - they are bound together by the gravitational force.
' The Earth and its satellites - they are bound together by the gravitational force.
' The Solar System - the Sun and the planets are bound together by the gravitational force.
o An atom - the electrons are bound to the nucleus by attractive electrostatic forces.
t The nucleus ofan atom - the protons and neutrons are bound togetlier by the strong nuclear
force.
The one common characteristic of all bound systems is that they all have negative porential e,ergy.
Tl.rus if tt'o bodies are bound to each other by attractive forces, their potential energy is
negative-
Ifthe potential energy of two bodies is negative, then they are bound to each
other. .
To split up a bound system we have to add energy to the system to raise the potential
energy of the bodies to
ze ro.

The energy required to split up a bound system is called the binding energy
of the system. If I have a mass
1 gravitational potential energy on the surface of the garth is la.zszzsl,.
:f 90kg: ll
Section A3.3). Thus, my binding energy is 6.253257x10eJ.
r o,j i.." calculation in

A large part of the second haLof this course will involve a study of bound systems.

A3.5 Satellite Motion as projectile Motion

Consider a sateliite in polar orbit about the Earth at a height of lgkm above
the
Earth's surface, as portrayed in Figure A3.1. Obviously an orbit of such low
height
is not feasible because ofair resistance, but we are describing a theoretical
orbit.
We can calculate the speed of the satellite in this orbit using , = ,@-. This gi'es
lt'
the speed of the satcllitr' to be 7.9 ilm per seconC.
Now, imagine a l0km high mountain at the North pole and
a projectile being launched horizontally from the top of this
mountain. Figure A3.2 shows a projectile being launched
"D A3.r
Fie.
moultain top with ever incieasing lauJch speeds.
-{om the
Note that, as the launch speed increases the distance that the projectile
travels around
the surface of the Earth increases. Eventually, when the ,p""a ut
*ti"r, tir" body is
projected reaches 7.91km per second the projectile completely
circl&the Earth and
retums to its original launch position. In other words the projectifu.has
become a
Fig. A3.2
This can be explained as follows. In projectile motion we separate
the motion of the
body into two components. If the projectile is launched troiizontatty with a
speed of 7.9lkm pgr second,
then in the first second it travels 7'9lkm horizontally and drops 4.9km vertically
as shown in ri*,L. ;;j.'-
: :.+:f.r" . ,rj' However the surface of the Earth is not flat but it is curved. As the
:'; I l.l i projectile travels 7910m horizontally and drops 4.9m vertically, the 7910m

l.-
surface of the Earth below the projectile drops away by 4.9m, Thus this
t. projectile has not got any closer to the surface of *re rarth. It is still
10km above the Earth's surface and is still havelling parallel to the
surface of the Earth. In other words the projectile has bicome,a satellite.
Note that this is only possible cf course if the speed ofprojection is high
enough.

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