NEWTON’S LAW

OF

UNIVERSAL
GRAVITATION
WHAT LEANERS NEED TO KNOW:

o State Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation: Each body in the universe

attracts every other body with a force that is directly proportional to the
product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the
distance between their centres.
m1 m2
F =G
o Solve problems using. r2

M earth
gearth = G
o Calculate acceleration due to gravity on Earth using r 2earth

NB: Use this formula to calculate gravitational acceleration (g) on any planet
using appropriate planetary data.

o Describe weight as the gravitational force the Earth exerts on any object on or
near its surface.
o Calculate weight using the expression w = mg (g = acceleration due to gravity;
near earth g is approximately 9.8 m.s-2).

o Calculate the weight of an object on other planets with different values of

gravitational acceleration.
o Distinguish between mass and weight.
o Explain weightlessness.

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 NEWTON’S LAW OF UNIVERSAL GRAVITATION
Summary:
Discussion: Introduction to Newton’s law of universal gravitation
(15 minutes)
Discussion: Newton’s law of universal gravitation: F = Gm1m2/r2
(30 minutes)
Worked examples: Using F = Gm1m2/r2. (45 minutes)
Practice questions: More practice with F = Gm1m2/r2. (90 minutes)

Discussion:
Introduction to Newton’s law of universal gravitation
Introduce the lesson with some questions which lead towards Newton’s Law of
Universal Gravitation.

Examples:
1. What causes the weight that each student feels?
(gravitational attraction by the Earth.)
2. What affects the size of the Earth’s pull on you? Why would you weigh a
different amount on the Moon? (Your mass, and its mass.)
3. If the Earth is pulling down on you, then what else must be occurring, by
Newton’s 3rd Law?
(You must be pulling up on the Earth with a force equal to your weight.)
4. What happens to the strength of the pull of the Earth as you go further away
from it?
(It gets weaker – most students guess this correctly from the incorrect
assumption that in space, astronauts are weightless!)
So, in summary the force depends upon the masses of the Earth and you, and
weakens with distance. This is all embodied in Newton’s law of universal gravitation

A great contribution to Physics

In 1665 Isaac Newton made an important contribution to Physics when he indicated

that the force keeping the moon in orbit around the earth is the same force that
causes an apple to fall to the ground. Prior to that, people believed that the motion of
celestial bodies and earthbound bodies differ and were subject to different laws.

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Gravity – a non-contact force

All objects fall downwards under the influence of gravity. This attraction of the earth
on objects is a non-contact force and is present even when objects are not in direct
contact with the earth.

Acceleration due to gravity

As with any other force, gravity also causes acceleration. From the Grade 10
physical sciences you already know that gravity causes all objects to accelerate
downwards at 9,8 m∙s–2. In addition to his three laws of motion, Isaac Newton
summarised this phenomenon (all objects accelerate downwards towards the earth)
in his universal law of gravity.

Newton’s universal law of gravity

Any two point masses attract each other with a force which is directly proportional to
their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between the
point masses.

Figure 19: Any two point masses attract each other with forces F and –F

m1 m2
F -F

Though this law is valid only for point masses (particles), we can also apply it to
actual objects, as long as the objects are small compared to the distance between
them. The earth and the moon are far apart and can be regarded as particles or
point masses.

What about the force between an apple and the earth? The earth is regarded as a
uniform sphere and acts as a point mass with the mass at the centre. The apple
attracts the earth with the same force with which the earth attracts the apple towards
its centre (Newton’s third law of motion). As a result of the great difference in mass
between the apple and the earth, the apple experiences the greater acceleration
(Newton’s second law of motion).

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Discussion:

Newton’s law of universal gravitation in symbols

The following mathematical expression can be obtained from Newton’s universal law
of gravity:

m 1 m2
Fα r2

To convert this proportion to an equation, the universal gravity constant, G, is added.

Present the equation which represents Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation.

F = Gm1m2/r2 F = gravitational force of attraction (N)
m1, m2 are the interacting masses (kg)
r is the separation of the masses (m)
G is known as the “universal gravitational constant”
(NOT to be confused with “little” g).
It sets the strength of the gravitational interaction in the sense that if it were doubled,
so would all the gravitational forces.
G = 6.67  10-11 N m2 kg-2
 Show how the units can be worked out by rearranging the original equation.

 This law applies between point masses, but spherical masses can be treated
as though they were point masses with all their mass concentrated at their
centre.
 This force is ALWAYS attractive. In some texts you will see a minus sign in
the equation, so that F = -Gm1m2/r2.
 This minus sign is there purely to indicate that the force is attractive (it’s a relic
from the more correct, but well beyond the syllabus, vector equation
expressing Newton’s Law of universal gravitation).
 It’s simplest to calculate the magnitude of the force using F = Gm1m2/r2 and
the direction is given by the fact that the force is always attractive.

Example:
NB:
Calculate the magnitude of the gravitational force F, on each of the particles m 1 and
m2 in the diagram below:
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m1 = 6 kg m2 = 10 kg
F -F
  Show how the gravitational force is directly proportional to the mass of both
interacting objects (i.e. as the mass of either object increases, the force of
gravitational attraction between them also increases).
 If the mass of one of the objects is doubled, then the force of gravity between
them is doubled.
 If the mass of one of the objects is tripled, then the force of gravity between
them is tripled.
 If the mass of both of the objects is doubled, then the force of gravity between
them is quadrupled; and so on.
 Show how the gravitational force is inversely proportional to the square of the
separation distance between the two interacting objects (i.e. as two objects
are separated from each other, the force of gravitational attraction between
them also decreases.
 If the separation distance between two objects is doubled (increased by a
factor of 2), then the force of gravitational attraction is decreased by a factor
of 4 (2 raised to the second power).
 If the separation distance between any two objects is tripled (increased by a
factor of 3), then the force of gravitational attraction is decreased by a factor
of 9 (3 raised to the second power).

Useful data

G = 6.67 ¿ 10–11 N m2 kg–2

Earth’s mass = 5.97 ¿ 1024 kg

Moon’s mass = 7.34 ¿ 1022 kg

Sun’s mass is = 2.0 ¿ 1030 kg

Radius of the Moon = 1.64 ¿ 106 m

Radius of the Earth = 6.37 ¿ 106 m

Earth–Moon distance = 3.8 ¿ 105 km

Earth–Sun distance = 1.5 ¿ 108 km

Concluding Comments:

The law of Universal Gravitation stands for all time as one of the greatest landmarks
of physics. It is an amalgamation of accurate observation, mathematical formalism,
an insight into basic causes leading ultimately to a deep conceptual understanding
and the statement of a Universal Law.

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Newton’s laws laid the foundation for classical mechanics and the understanding of
the concept of force. All subsequent work in this field was devoted to new
applications and more general mathematical formalisms, such as the law of
conservation of energy.

PRACTICE EXERCISE 1

1. On what two factors does the magnitude of force of gravity depend?

2. How is the force related to these factors?

3. Write an equation for Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation.

4. In what unit is G (the gravitational constant) measured?

5. How does the force of gravitational attraction between two objects change
when the distance between the objects is doubled?

6. Why must we exert ten times the force to lift a mass of 100 kg than is needed
to lift a mass of 10 kg?

7. Why is Newton’s gravitation law said to be universal?

8. In what direction do the forces act at all points in the gravitational field of the
earth?

9. Why does your weight decrease as you go down a mine shaft?

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PRACTICE EXERCISE 2

Unless otherwise stated, use g=9 , 8 m.s- and G=6,7 x 10−11 N .m−2 .kg−2
2

1. An astronaut weighs 800 N on the surface of the earth. What will be his
weight at an altitude equal to the radius of the earth?

2. An astronaut of mass 80 kg lands on a “planet” the radius of which is half that

of the earth and the mass of which is three times that of the earth. What will
be the force of attraction which this ‘planet’ has on him?

3. G (the gravitational constant) is considered to be a universal constant, while g

is not. Explain why this is so.

4. Calculate the force of gravitational attraction between a mass of 8 kg and a

mass of 24 kg, placed 2 m apart.

5. The force of gravitational attraction between a mass of 16 kg and another of

40 kg is 2, 68 x 10-8 N. Calculate the distance between their centres.

6. Two space capsules, of equal mass, are put into orbit 30 m apart. The
gravitational force between them is 2,0 x 10-7N.

a) Calculate the mass of each capsule

b) Calculate the acceleration given to each capsule by this force.

7. The mass of the earth is 6,0 x 1024 kg. If the centres of the earth and moon
are 3,9 x 108 m apart, the force of gravitational attraction between them is

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 1,9 x 1020 N

a) What is the approximate mass of the moon?

b) How many times is the mass of the earth greater than that of the moon?

8. Calculate the value of g at a point 8,0 x 106 m from the centre of the earth.
(Use 6 x 1024 kg as the mass of the earth)

9. Use the following data to calculate the mass of the earth:

a) g = 9,8 m.s.-2; radius of earth = 6,4 x 106m;G = 6,7 x 10-11N.m2.kg-2.

10. In an experiment using Cavendish’s apparatus to measure G, the mass of

each small sphere is 1,0 kg, and the mass of each large sphere is 5,0 kg. The
distance from the centre of the small sphere to the centre of the large sphere
80 mm (at each end of the horizontal bar.) Ignoring the effect of the mass of
the horizontal bar, calculate G if the force is 10-7N