Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation (Physics)
Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation (Physics)
Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation (Physics)
Universal Gravitation
Isaac Newton
Questions
http://scienceblogs.com/startswithabang/upload/2009/07/meet_our_second_moon/400px-NewtonsLawOfUniversalGravitation.svg.png
m
F
d
2m
m
2F
2m
4F
d
3m
m
3F
d
m
F
d
m
m
1/4F
2d
3m
2m
2.7F
1d
FG
G m1 m2
=
r2
G represents the
universal gravitational constant
G = 6.67 x 10-11 Nm2/kg2
Henry
Cavendishs
experiment
determined the
proportionality
constant
G
in 1798.
Since G is only
6.67 10-11 Nm2 / kg2,
the measurements had
to be very precise.
http://www.newscientist.com/data/images/archive/1639/16390101.jpg
Problem 1
A)
B)
answer:
2.27 10
11
A factor of
N
3
16
Problem 2
answer:
71.7 kg
Problem 3
3 asteroids are positioned as shown, forming a right
triangle. Find the net force on the 2.5 million kg
asteroid.
6
3 10 kg
40 m
2.7 106 kg
2.5 106 kg
60 m
answer:
0.212 N at 14.6 above horizontal (N of W)
INTERESTING FACT.
x = vt
v
Falling
Around the
Earth
y = 0.5 g t 2 {
Gravitational Field
Gravitational Field
10 kg
98 N
Earths surface
Earths surface
On a large scale,
gravity is an
attractive radial
On a small scale
gravity can be
regarded as a
uniform field
GMm
F 2
r
F = mg
g = acceleration due to
gravity (m/s2)
F
g
m
g = gravitational field
GM
g 2
r
Gravitational
Potential Energy
Energy Conservation
Total mechanical energy of an object of mass m
a distance r from the center of the Earth:
Energy Conservation
Energy Conservation
Another way of visualizing the gravitational potential well:
Energy Conservation
Escape speed
The initial upward speed a projectile must
have in order to escape from the Earths
gravity
Energy Conservation
What are Black holes?
If an object is sufficiently massive and
sufficiently small, the escape speed will
equal or exceed the speed of light.
Light itself will not be able to escape the
surface.
This is a black hole.
Keplers Laws of
Planetary Motion
Early Astronomers
In the 2nd century AD the Alexandrian astronomer
Ptolemy put forth a theory that Earth is stationary and at
the center of the universe and that the sun, moon, and
planets revolve around it. Though incorrect, it was
accepted for centuries.
Early Astronomers
In the late 1500s the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe
made better measurements of the planets and stars than
anyone before him. The telescope had yet to be
invented. He believed in a Ptolemaic-Coperican
hybrid model in which the planets revolve around the
sun, which in turn revolves around the Earth.
In the late 1500s and early 1600s the Italian
scientist Galileo was one of the very few people to
advocate the Copernican view, for which the
Church eventually had him placed under house
arrest. After hearing about the invention of a
spyglass in Holland, Galileo made a telescope and
discovered four moons of Jupiter, craters on the
moon, and the phases of Venus.
Early Astronomers
The German astronomer Johannes Kepler was a
contemporary of Galileo and an assistant to Tycho
Brahe. Like Galileo, Kepler believed in the
heliocentric system of Copernicus, but using
Brahes planetary data he deduced that the planets
move in ellipses rather than circles. This is the
first of three planetary laws that Kepler formulated
based on Brahes data.
larger body.
F1
F2
Sun
P
Planet
An ellipse has two foci, F1 and F2. For any point P on the ellipse,
F1 P + F2 P is a constant. The orbits of the planets are nearly
circular (F1 and F2 are close together), but not perfect circles. A
circle is a an ellipse with both foci at the same point--the center.
Comets have very eccentric (highly elliptical) orbits.
B
The blue shaded sector has the same area as the red shaded sector.
Thus, a planet moves from C to D in the same amount of time as
it moves from A to B. This means a planet must move faster
when its closer to the sun. For planets this affect is small, but for
comets its quite noticeable, since a comets orbit is has much
greater eccentricity.
m
F
Planet
M
Sun
GMm
R2
m v2
m [2 R / T] 2
=
=
R
R
Cancel ms
and simplify:
GM
4 2 R
=
R2
T2
2
4
Rearrange: T 2 =
R3
GM
2
4
R3
T2 =
GM
m v2
=
R
v=
GM
R
The End
Sample Problems