CONTENTS

1.INRODUCTION TO GRAVITATION
2.UNIVERSAL LAW OF GRAVITATION
3.FREE FALL
4.ACCELERATION DUE GRAVITY g
5.DETERMINATION OF g
6.MOTION OF OBJECTS UNDER THE
INFLUENCE OF GRAVITATIONAL PULL
7.MASS VS WEIGHT
 INTRODUCTION
We know that an object at rest
remains at rest and an object in
motion continues to move with
same velocity unless an external
unbalanced force is applied on it.

There is a downward force

continuously acting on the ball .

Force with which the Earth

attracts an object towards its
center is called gravity.
GRAVITATION - INTRODUCTION

Gravitation is
a natural
phenomenon
by which all
the things
with mass are
brought
towards one
another.
HISTORY OF GRAVITATION ( ISAAC NEWTON)

Why apple did

not move in any
other direction
but downwards?

Force of gravity
WHY MOON DOES NOT FALL TOWARDS THE
EARTH?

Stone rotates in a circular

path because the rope pulls it
towards the center of the
circle with a force known as
centripetal force

Motion of moon around the

Earth is due to centripetal force
which is provided by force of
attraction of the Earth. If there
were no such force, the moon
would pursue a uniform straight
line motion.
Falling apple is attracted
towards Earth but why
don’t we see Earth
moving towards an
apple?

Third law of motion – Apple does attract the Earth.

Second law of motion - F = ma
For a given force, a α1Τ𝑚
Mass of apple is small as compared to that of the
Earth.

We don't see Earth moving towards the

apple.
Same argument goes for Earth not moving
towards the moon.
UNIVERSAL LAW OF GRAVITATION

o Every object attracts every other object in the universe.

o Table is attracting photo frame, clock is attracting the plant, sofa is
attracting the cupboard and so on..
o Force with which objects attract each other is known as gravitational
force.
o This phenomena of every object attracting every other object is
stated in the universal law of gravitation proposed by Sir Isaac
Newton.
 UNIVERSAL LAW OF GRAVITATION

M m

d
“Every object in this universe attracts every
other object with a force which is directly
proportional to the product of their
masses and inversely proportional to the
square of the distance between them”
Let two objects balls of masses M and m lie at a distance d from
each other .
Let the force of attraction between two objects be F. According
to the universal law of gravitation, the force between two objects
is directly proportional to the product of their masses. That is,
F=Mx
m
And the force between two objects is inversely proportional to the
square of the distance between them, that is,
F α 1 ⁄ d2
Combining both the equations, we get
F α M x m ⁄ d2
or, F = G( (M x m) ⁄
d2)

where G is the constant of proportionality and is called the

universal gravitation constant.
 UNIVERSAL GRAVITATIONAL CONSTANT (G)

By multiplying crosswise, Eq. (4) gives

F×d2=GM×m
or G = F d2/ M m
The SI unit of G can be obtained by substituting
the units of force, distance and mass as
N m2 kg–2.
The value of G was found out by Henry Cavendish
by using a sensitive balance.
The accepted value of G is 6.673 × 10–11 N m2 kg–2.
 THINKING PROPORTIONALLY ABOUT NEWTON'S
EQUATION

The proportionalities
expressed by Newton's
universal law of gravitation
are represented by the
following illustration.
Observe how the force of
gravity is directly
proportional to the product
of the two masses and
inversely proportional to the
square of the distance of
separation.
IMPORTANCE OF UNIVERSAL LAW OF GRAVITATION

Gravitational force is responsible for binding us to Earth.

It is the reason behind the motion of moon

around the earth.

Planets revolve around the sun because of it.

Even the tides that get formed by rising and falling of

water level in the ocean happen because of the gravitational force
exerted by both sun and moon on the earth.
NUMERICAL
 FREE FALL
Lighter objects fall slowly and heavier objects fall
rapidly when dropped from the same height at
the same time – A Misconception!!

Galileo’s experiment

CONCLUSION: The bodies of different masses dropped

simultaneously from the same height hit the ground at the same
time, if air resistance is neglected.
 If air resistance is neglected, then the only
force acting on the falling body is the force of
gravitation of the Earth.

This force of gravitation is constant and hence

produces a constant acceleration in the body.

This acceleration is known as acceleration due

to gravity .

Acceleration due to gravity (g) :

The acceleration with which a body falls towards the earth due
to earth’s gravitational pull is known as acceleration due to
gravity. It is denoted by “g”.

FREE FALL:
The falling body on which only force of gravitation
of the Earth acts is known as a freely falling body
and such a fall of a body is known as free fall.
 EXPRESSION FOR ACCELRATION DUE TO GRAVITY

To derive an expression for acceleration due to gravity, lets take the example of an object
placed on the earth.
Let 'M' be the mass of the earth , Let 'R' be the radius of the earth.
If we drop a body of mass 'm', the force exerted by the earth on the body is given by
Newton's Law of Gravitation or Universal Law of gravitation.
The Force produces an acceleration 'g' on the body of mass 'm'.
According to Newton's 2nd law of motion, F = mg →1
To find the magnitude of the gravitational force between the earth and an object on the
surface of the earth we use,
𝐺𝑀𝑚
F= →2
𝑅2
[M = ‘mass of Earth‘ ,m = mass of the object]
From 1 and 2 we get,
𝐺𝑀𝑚
mg =
𝑅2
𝑮𝑴
g=
𝑹𝟐
The value of ‘g' does not depend on the mass of the body. It changes slightly from place to place.
But for most purposes, it is taken as 9.8 m/𝑠 2 .
VALUE OF ACCELERATION DUE TO GRAVITY (g) ON
EARTH

We know,
VALUE OF g ON THE SURFACE OF THE MOON

𝐺𝑀𝑚
We know,𝑔𝑚𝑜𝑜𝑛 =
𝑅 2 22
𝑀𝑚 (Mass of the Moon) = 7.4 X 10 kg
𝑅𝑚 (Radius of the Moon) = 1.75 X 106 m
G = 6.673 X 10−11 N 𝑚2 𝑘𝑔−2

𝑔𝑚𝑜𝑜𝑛 = 6.6.73 x 10-11 x 7.4 x 1022/(1.75 x106 )2

𝑔𝑚𝑜𝑜𝑛 = 1.6 m/𝑠 2

𝑔𝑚𝑜𝑜𝑛 1.7 1
= =
𝑔𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡ℎ 9.8 6
1
𝑔𝑚𝑜𝑜𝑛 = 𝑔𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡ℎ
6
1
Thus acceleration due to gravity on the surface of the moon is times
6
the acceleration due to gravity on the surface of the Earth.
 DIFFERENCE BETWEEN “g” AND “G”
Acceleration due to gravity (g) Universal Gravitational Constant(G)

The acceleration produced in a body The gravitational force between two

falling freely under the action of bodies of unit masses separated by a unit
gravitational pull of the earth is known as distance is known as universal
acceleration due to gravity. gravitational constant.

The value of ‘g’ is different at different The value of ‘G’ is same at every point on
points on the Earth. the Earth.

The value of g decreases as we go higher The value of G does not change with
from the surface of the Earth or as we go height and depth from the surface of the
deep into the Earth. Earth.

The value of g at the Centre of the Earth The value of G is not zero at the Centre of
is zero. the Earth or anywhere else.
The value of g on the surface of the Earth The value of G = 6.673 X 10−11 N𝑚2 𝑘𝑔−2
is 9.8 m/𝑠 2 throughout the universe.
 MOTION OF OBJECTS UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF
GRAVITATIONAL FORCE OF THE EARTH

When any body falls freely under the gravitational force of

the Earth, then
a=g
The equations of motion of a freely falling body can be
written by replacing a with g.
Consider an object falling towards earth with initial
velocity u. Let its velocity, under the effect of gravitational
acceleration g, changes to v after covering the height h in
time t.
Then the three equations of motion can be represented as:
Velocity (v) after t seconds, v = u + gt
Distance covered in t seconds, s = ut + ½gt2
Relation between v and u excluding t, v2 - u2 = 2gh
 NUMERICAL

1.A stone is dropped from the roof of a building.

It takes 4 s to reach the ground. Find the
height of the building. ( g = 9.8 m/𝑠 2 )
2.A child drops a coin from the top of a building
which is 50 m high. Calculate the velocity of
the coin when it falls through 20 m distance
and the velocity with which the coin strikes
the ground. Take g = 10 m/𝑠 2 .
3.A stone was dropped from the edge of a roof.
Find the distance travelled by the stone in 2 s
after its release.
 MASS
Mass of a body is defined
as the quantity of matter
contained in the body.

CHARACTERISTICS OF MASS OF A BODY

1. It does not depend on the shape, size and the state of
the body.
2. It remains same at all the places.
3. It does not change in the presence of other bodies
near it.
4. It is a scalar quantity.
5. It can be measured with the help of a beam balance.
 WEIGHT
The force with which a body is
attracted by the Earth is known as
weight of the body.

The force with which a body of mass m is attracted

by the Earth is given by
F=ma=mxg=mg
This force is known as weight of the body denoted
by W.
Weight W = m g
Weight is a vector quantity.
Spring balance measures the weight of an object.
WEIGHT OF AN OBJECT ON THE SURFACE OF MOON

Weight of an object of mass m on the surface of the Earth,

𝑊𝑒 = m 𝑔𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡ℎ
Weight of an object of mass m on the surface of the moon,
𝑊𝑚 = m 𝑔𝑚𝑜𝑜𝑛
𝑊𝑚 𝑔𝑚𝑜𝑜𝑛 1
= =
𝑊𝑒 𝑔𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡ℎ 6
1
So , 𝑊𝑚 = 𝑊𝑒
6
Weight of an object on the surface of the moon = 1/6 x weight of the
object on the surface of the Earth.
For this reason, moon exerts less force of attraction on the objects.
 DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MASS AND WEIGHT

MASS WEIGHT
Quantity of matter contained in a body Force with which earth attracts a body
towards its Centre
Mass of a body remains constant Weight of a body changes from place to
place
Mass of a body is never zero Weight of a body at the Centre of the
earth is zero.
It is a scalar quantity. It is a vector quantity.
Mass is measured in kg. Weight is measured in N.
It is measured by beam balance. It is measured by weighing machine or
spring balance.
 NUMERICAL

1.Find the weight of a stone on the surface

of the earth if its mass is 10 kg.
2.The weight of a boy on the surface of the
earth is 294 N. find his mass.