Senior High School

General Physics 1
Quarter 2 – Supplementary Materials
Gravity

Engr. Jeoffna Ruth C. Dasigo

Physics Teacher
 General Physics 1
Supplementary Material – Gravity

What I Need to Know

Learning Competencies:
1. Use Newton’s law of gravitation to infer gravitational force, weight, and acceleration due to
gravity. STEM_GP12G-IIb-16
2. Discuss the physical significance of gravitational field. STEM_GP12Red-IIb- 18
3. Apply the concept of gravitational potential energy in physics problems. STEM_GP12Red-IIb-
19
4. Calculate quantities related to planetary or satellite motion. STEM_GP12Red-IIb- 20
5. For circular orbits, relate Kepler’s third law of planetary motion to Newton’s law of gravitation
and centripetal acceleration. STEM_GP12G-IIc-22

After going through this module, you are expected to:

1. Use Newton’s law of gravitation to infer gravitational force, weight, and acceleration due to
gravity.
2. Discuss the physical significance of gravitational field.
3. Apply the concept of gravitational potential energy in physics problems.
4. Calculate quantities related to planetary or satellite motion.
5. For circular orbits, relate Kepler’s third law of planetary motion to Newton’s law of gravitation
and centripetal acceleration.

Lesson 1: Newton’s Law of Gravitation

What Is It?
Each body in this universe attracts other bodies towards itself with a force known as Gravitational
Force, thus gravitation is a study of the interaction between two masses. Out of the two masses, the
heavier one is called source mass and the lighter one is called test mass.
Gravitational force is a central force which depends only on the position of test mass from the
source mass and always acts along the line joining the centers of the two masses.
The core problem of gravitation has always been in understanding the interaction between the two
masses and the relativistic effects associated with it.

Sir Isaac Newton put forward the universal law of gravitation in 1687 and used it to explain the
observed motions of the planets and moons.

What’s New?
Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation states that every particle attracts every other particle in
the universe with a force that is directly proportional to the product of the masses and inversely
proportional to the square of the distance between them.

Newton’s conclusion about the magnitude of gravitational force is summarized symbolically as

𝑚1 𝑚2
𝐹=𝐺
𝑟2
where:
F is the gravitational force between bodies
m1 and m2 are the masses of the bodies
r is the distance between the centers of two bodies
G is the universal gravitational constant

General Physics 1 – Quarter 2 16

 The constant proportionality (G) in the above equation is known as the universal gravitation
constant. Henry Cavendish experimentally determined the precise value of G. The value of G is found to
be G = 6.673 x 10-11 N m2/kg2.

Examples:
1. Calculate the gravitational force of attraction between the Earth and a 70 kg man standing at a sea
level, a distance of 6.38 x 106 m from the earth’s center.
We are given:
m1 is the mass of the Earth which is equal to 5.98 x 1024 kg
m2 is the mass of the man which is equal to 70 kg
d = 6.38 x 106 m
G = 6.673 x 10-11 N m2/kg2

Now substituting the values in the Gravitational force formula, we get

6.67𝑥10−11 𝑁𝑚2 (5.98 𝑥1024 𝑘𝑔)(70𝑘𝑔)
𝐹=( ) = 686 𝑁
𝑘𝑔2 (6.38𝑥106 𝑚)2

2. What is the force of gravity acting on an object of mass 2000 kg at the Earth’s surface?
We are given:
Mass of Earth (m1) = 5.98 × 1024kg
Mass of object (m2) = 2000kg
The radius of the Earth (r)= 6.38 × 106m
Acceleration due to gravity (g) = 9.8 m/s2
Universal constant (G) = 6.67 x 10-11 N m2/kg2
Solution:
6.67𝑥10−11 𝑁𝑚2 (5.98 𝑥1024 𝑘𝑔)(2000𝑘𝑔)
𝐹=( ) = 19.6 𝑘𝑁
𝑘𝑔2 (6.38𝑥106 𝑚)2

3. What is the force of gravity acting on an object of mass 1000 kg at 20,000 meters above the
Earth’s surface?
We are given:
Mass of Earth (m1) = 5.98 × 1024kg
Mass of object (m2) = 1000kg
The radius of the Earth (r)= 6.38 × 106m
Acceleration due to gravity (g) = 9.8 m/s2
Universal constant (G) = 6.67 x 10-11 N m2 / kg2
h = 2 x 104 m
Solution:
𝑚1 𝑚2
𝐹=𝐺
(𝑟 + ℎ)2
−11 2
6.67𝑥10 𝑁𝑚 (5.98𝑥1024 𝑘𝑔)(1000𝑘𝑔)
𝐹=( )
𝑘𝑔2 [(6.38𝑥106 𝑚) + (2𝑥104 𝑚)

𝐹 = 9737 𝑁

What’s More?
Acceleration due to gravitational attraction.

Example:
1. Suppose two spheres are placed with their centers 0.0500 m apart at a point in space far removed
from all other bodies. What is the magnitude of the acceleration of each, relative to an inertial
system?

Solution:

General Physics 1 – Quarter 2 17

 Each sphere exerts on the other a gravitational force of the same magnitude Fg, which we found
in the previous example. We can neglect any other forces. The acceleration magnitudes a 1 and a2 are
different because the masses are different. To determine these, we’ll use Newton’s second law:

𝐹𝑔 1.33 𝑥10−10 𝑁 𝑚
𝑎1 = = = 1.33 𝑥10−8 2
𝑚1 0.0100 𝑘𝑔 𝑠
𝐹𝑔 1.33 𝑥10−10 𝑁 𝑚
𝑎2 = = = 2.66 𝑥10−10 2
𝑚2 0.500 𝑘𝑔 𝑠

What I Have Learned

Activity 2.1.1 Solve the given problemas and show your solution.

1. Calculate the gravitational force of attraction between the Earth and a 85 kg man standing at a sea
level, a distance of 6.38 x 106 m from the earth’s center.
2. What is the force of gravity acting on an object of mass 3000 kg at the Earth’s surface?
3. What is the force of gravity acting on an object of mass 2000 kg at 22,000 meters above the
Earth’s surface?
4. Suppose two spheres are placed with their centers 0.500 m apart at a point in space far removed
from all other bodies. What is the magnitude of the acceleration of each, relative to an inertial
system?

What I Can Do
Activity 2.1.2 Solve the given problems and show your solution.

1. The moon has a mass of 7.34 x 1022 kg and a radius of 1.74 x 106 meters. If you have a mass of 66
kg, how strong is the force between you and the moon?

2. A distance of 0.002 m separates two objects of equal mass. If the gravitational force between
them is 0.0104 N, find the mass of each object.

Lesson 2: Gravitational Field

What Is It?
Gravity is the force of attraction between all masses.
Although gravity is said to be exerted by everything that has a
mass, only those objects with very large masses affect anything
near them. A gravitational field is the area around the body that is
exerting the gravitational pull. It can be defined as
the gravitational force felt by a unit's mass placed at a point in
space.

Gravity has three very important effects.

1. It makes all things accelerate towards it. On Earth,
acceleration due to gravity is 9.8 m/s2. That means that no
matter what is falling towards Earth, it will do so with the
same acceleration, unless air resistance is considered.
2. Gravity gives everything weight. Weight is the force of gravity pulling something toward the
Earth. Mass and weight are not the same thing, and mass is used to determine the weight of
something. The mass of an object is always the same, but its weight can change based on the
strength of the gravitational field. For example, the mass of an object would be the same on the
moon as it was on Earth, but its weight would be different due to the different gravitational forces.

General Physics 1 – Quarter 2 18

 3. Gravity keeps all objects in the solar system in their orbits. An orbit is caused by the balance of
the forward motion of the object and the force of gravity pulling it inwards. For example, the orbit
of the Earth around the Sun is due to the forward motion of the Earth and the Sun’s gravitational
pull on it. The same happens with the moon around the Earth.

The closer one object is to another, the stronger the gravitational field. In the Solar System, planets
that are closer to the Sun have a much stronger force of attraction acting on them. To counteract this
attraction, they must move around the Sun a lot quicker. A gravitational field decreases very quickly with
distance.
The size of the force of gravity follows an inverse square relationship. If the gravity of an object were
measured and then it was moved twice as far away from the large object causing the gravitational field,
the force of gravity would be reduced by a factor of four. It if were moved three times as far away, the
gravitational force would be reduced by a factor of nine, or the square of three. The opposite can be said if
the object were moved closer as well, except gravity would be increased instead of being reduced.

What’s More
Activity 2.2.1 Answer as required.

1. Why do you think it is important to study about gravitational field?

2. If by tomorrow, earth’s gravitational field is going to fall apart, what will happen to us? Explain.

Lesson 3: Gravitational Potential Energy

What Is It?
Gravitational potential energy is the energy possessed or acquired by an object due to a change in
its position when it is present in a gravitational field. In simple terms, it can be said that gravitational
potential energy is an energy that is related to gravitational force or to gravity.
The most common example that can help you understand the concept of gravitational potential
energy is if you take two pencils. One is placed at the table and the other is held above the table. Now, we
can state that the pencil which is high will have greater gravitational potential energy than the pencil that
is at the table.

When a body of mass (m) is moved from infinity to a point inside the gravitational influence of a
source mass (M) without accelerating it, the amount of work done in displacing it into the source field is
stored in the form of potential energy. This is known as gravitational potential energy.

The equation for gravitational potential energy is:

𝑃𝐸𝑔 = 𝑚𝑔ℎ

where:
m is the mass in kilograms
g is the acceleration due to gravity (9.8 m/s2 on Earth)
h is the height above the ground in meters

Gravitational Potential Energy at a point which is at a distance ‘r’ from the source mass is given by
𝑀𝑚
𝑃𝐸𝑔 = −𝐺
𝑟
If a test mass moves from a point inside the gravitational field to the other point inside the same
gravitational field of source mass, then the change in potential energy of the test mass is given by

General Physics 1 – Quarter 2 19

 𝑀𝑚
∆𝑃𝐸𝑔 = 𝐺
1 1
( − )
𝑟𝑖 𝑟𝑓
Note:
Gravitational Potential Energy may be represented as Ug or simply U in other books.

Examples:
1. Calculate the gravitational potential energy of a body of mass 10 kg and is 25m above the ground.
We are given:
Mass m = 10 Kg
Height h = 25 m
Solution:
𝑚
𝑃𝐸𝑔 = (10 𝑘𝑔) (9.8 2 ) (25 𝑚) = 2450 𝐽
𝑠

2. If the mass of the earth is 5.98 ×1024 kg and the mass of the sun is 1.99 × 1030 kg and the earth is
160 million km away from the sun. Calculate the GPE of the earth.
We are given:
mass of the Earth (m) = 5.98 × 1024 kg
mass of the Sun (M) = 1.99 × 1030 kg

Solution:
𝑀𝑚
𝑃𝐸𝑔 = −𝐺
𝑟

𝑁𝑚2 (1.99 𝑥1030 𝑘𝑔)(5.98 𝑥1024 𝑘𝑔)

𝑃𝐸𝑔 = − (6.673 𝑥10−11 )
𝑘𝑔2 (160 𝑥109 𝑘𝑚)
33
𝑃𝐸𝑔 = −4.963 𝑥10 𝐽

What I Have Learned

Activity 2.3.1 Solve the given problems.

1. A basketball weighing 2.2 kg falls off a building to the ground 50 m below. Calculate the
gravitational potential energy of the ball when it arrives below.
2. A 2 kg body free falls from rest from a height of 12 m. Determine the work done by the force of
gravity and the change in gravitational potential energy. Consider the acceleration due to gravity
to be 10 m/s2.
3. How much gravitational potential energy does a 4.0 kg block has if it is lifted 25 m?
4. How much potential energy does a car gain if a crane lifts the car with a mass of 1,500 kg and 20
m straight up?

What I Can Do
Activity 2.3.2 Solve the given problems.

1. The distance between a 60-kg person and a 50-kg person is 2.5 m. What is the magnitude of the
gravitational force each exerts on the other?
2. The distance between Earth and Moon (r) is 3.84 x 108 m. What is the magnitude of gravitational
force each exerts on the other?
3. Determine the gain in the potential energy when a 5.0 kg rock is raised 18.050 m.
4. A leopard with a mass of 65.00 kg climbs 12.5 m up a tree. What is its gain in GPE?
5. A ball rotates in a container with a diameter of 1.2 meter. If the angular speed is 53 rpm, what are
the linear velocity and radial acceleration of the ball?

General Physics 1 – Quarter 2 20

 6. An object travels at a constant speed v in a circle with radius of R and radial acceleration aR. If the
radial acceleration becomes 2 times, then v becomes _____ times and radius becomes _____
times.

Lesson 4: Kepler’s Laws of Planetary Motion

What Is It?
Kepler's three laws describe how planetary bodies orbit about the Sun. They describe how (1)
planets move in elliptical orbits with the Sun as a focus, (2) a planet covers the same area of space in the
same amount of time no matter where it is in its orbit, and (3) a planet’s orbital period is proportional to
the size of its orbit (its semi-major axis).

A. Kepler First law – The Law of Orbits

According to Kepler’s first law,” All the
planets revolve around the sun in elliptical orbits
having the sun at one of the foci”. The point at
which the planet is close to the sun is known as
perihelion and the point at which the planet is
farther from the sun is known as aphelion.
It is the characteristics of an ellipse that the
sum of the distances of any planet from two foci is
constant. The elliptical orbit of a planet is
responsible for the occurrence of seasons.

B. Kepler’s Second Law – The Law of Equal

Areas
Kepler’s second law states that “the radius
vector drawn from the sun to the planet sweeps out
equal areas in equal intervals of time”.
As the orbit is not circular, the planet’s
kinetic energy is not constant in its path. It has
more kinetic energy near perihelion and less kinetic
energy near aphelion implies more speed at perihelion
and less speed (vmin) at aphelion. If r is the distance of
planet from sun, at perihelion (rmin) and at aphelion
(rmax), then,

𝑟𝑚𝑖𝑛 + 𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 2𝑎 𝑥 (𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑎𝑗𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑛 𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑝𝑠𝑒) Equation 1

Using the law of conservation of angular momentum the law can be verified. At any point of
time, the angular momentum can be given as, L = mr 2ω. Kepler’s second law can also be stated as “The
areal velocity of a planet revolving around the sun in elliptical orbit remains constant which implies the
angular momentum of a planet remains constant”. As the angular momentum is constant all planetary
motions are planar motions, which is a direct consequence of central force.

C. Kepler’s Third Law – The Law of Periods

According to Kepler’s law of periods,” The square of the time period of revolution of a planet
around the sun in an elliptical orbit is directly proportional to the cube of its semi-major axis”.

General Physics 1 – Quarter 2 21

 𝑇 2 ∝ 𝑎3
Shorter the orbit of the planet around the sun, shorter the time taken to complete one revolution.
Using the equations of Newton’s law of gravitation and laws of motion, Kepler’s third law takes a more
general form:
4𝜋 2
𝑃2 = 𝑥 𝑎3
[𝐺(𝑀1 𝑀2 )]

where M1 and M2 are the masses of the two orbiting objects in solar masses.

What’s More?
• Kepler’s First Law
At its closest approach, a moon comes within 200,000 km of the planet it orbits. At that point, the
moon is 300,000 km from the other focus of its orbit, f2. The planet is focus f1 of the moon’s elliptical
orbit. How far is the moon from the planet when it is 260,000 km from f2?

Solution:
𝑃𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑓1 𝑚𝑓2 = (200 𝑘𝑚) + (100,000 𝑘𝑚) + (300,000 𝑘𝑚)
𝑃𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑓1 𝑚𝑓2 = 600,000 𝑘𝑚

𝑚𝑓1 = (600,000 𝑘𝑚) − (100,000 𝑘𝑚 + 260,000 𝑘𝑚)

𝑚𝑓1 = 240,000 𝑘𝑚

Discussion:
The perimeter of triangle f1mf2 must be constant because the distance between the foci does not
change and Kepler’s first law says the orbit is an ellipse. For any ellipse, the sum of the two sides of the
triangle, which are f1m and mf2, is constant.

• Kepler’s Second Law

The figure below shows the major and minor axes of an ellipse. The semi-major and semi-minor
axes are half of these, respectively.

Earth’s orbit is slightly elliptical, with a semi-major axis of 152 million km and a semi-
minor axis of 147 million km. If Earth’s period is 365.26 days, what area does an Earth-to-sun
line sweep past in one day?

Solution:
𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎
𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑑𝑎𝑦 =
𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑑𝑎𝑦𝑠

General Physics 1 – Quarter 2 22

 𝜋𝑎𝑏
𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑑𝑎𝑦 =
365 𝑑𝑎𝑦𝑠
𝜋(1.47 𝑥108 𝑘𝑚)(1.52 𝑥103 𝑘𝑚)
𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑑𝑎𝑦 =
365 𝑑𝑎𝑦𝑠
𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑑𝑎𝑦 = 1.92 𝑥1014 𝑘𝑚2 /𝑑𝑎𝑦

Discussion:
The answer is based on Kepler’s law, which states that a line from a planet to the sun sweeps out
equal areas in equal times.

• Kepler’s Third Law

Given that the moon orbits Earth each 27.3 days and that it is an average distance
of 3.84×108m from the center of Earth, calculate the period of an artificial satellite orbiting at an average
altitude of 1,500 km above Earth’s surface.

Solution:
To solve for T2, we cross-multiply and take the square root, yielding
𝑟2 3
𝑇22 = 𝑇12 ( )
𝑟1
3
𝑟2 2
𝑇2 = 𝑇1 ( )
𝑟1
3
24 ℎ𝑟 7880 𝑘𝑚 2
𝑇2 = (27.3 𝑑𝑎𝑦𝑠) ( )( 5 )
𝑑𝑎𝑦 3.84 𝑥10 𝑘𝑚
𝑇2 = 1.93 ℎ𝑟

Discussion:
This is a reasonable period for a satellite in a fairly low orbit. It is interesting that any satellite at
this altitude will complete one orbit in the same amount of time.

What I Have Learned

Activity 2.4.1 Solve the given problems.

1. At its closest approach, a moon comes within 200,000 km of the planet it orbits. At that point, the
moon is 300,000 km from the other focus of its orbit, f2. The planet is focus f1 of the moon’s
elliptical orbit. How far is the moon from the planet when it is 270,050 km from f2?
2. Earth’s orbit is slightly elliptical, with a semi-major axis of 152 million km and a semi-minor axis
of 147 million km. If Earth’s period is 365.26 days, what area does an Earth-to-sun line sweep
past in two days?
3. Given that the moon orbits Earth each 27.3 days and that it is an average distance
of 3.84×108m from the center of Earth, calculate the period of an artificial satellite orbiting at an
average altitude of 2,500 km above Earth’s surface.

References:

Byju’s | byjus.com/physics
General Physics 1 – Grade 12, Quarter 2-Module 2, First Edition 2020, DepEd Division of
Cagayan de Oro, What’s More pg. 55
“What is a Gravitational Field?” (Victoria Blackburn, 2012), Info Bloom |
www.infobloom.com/what-is-a-gravitational-field.htm
NASA Science | Solar System Exploration | solarsystem.nasa.gov/resources/310/orbits-and-
keplers-laws/
Openstax | openstax.org/books/physics/pages/7-1-keplers-laws-of-planetary-motion

General Physics 1 – Quarter 2 23