Gravitational Fields and Forces

One:
Fields
De nition: a eld is a region of space in which an object can exert a force on a separate object
because of a certain property they both possess.

Vector elds examples: if an object possesses mass the there is a gravitational eld around it
and there will be a gravitational force exerted on another massive object placed in the eld, if an
object possesses electric charge then there is an electric eld around it and any other electric
charge in the eld will feel a force.

Scalar elds: they are de ned as the presence of a physical quantity at each point in a
space.

The direction in which a vector eld points is denoted by eld lines or lines of force.

There are two main types of eld which have di erent looking eld lines:
• Uniform elds
• Radial elds

Gravitational Field
De nition of a uniform eld: A uniform eld is a eld where the eld lines all
point in approximately the same direction.
Close to the surface, the radial eld can be approximated as a uniform eld by
equally spaced parallel eld. The eld strength is almost constant.

De nition of Radial eld: Radial elds are elds where all the eld lines, or lines of
force, point towards the centre of a circle or sphere.
In the radial eld, the lines of force become closer together close to the surface of
the planet. This indicates eld is stronger here.

• Newton proposed that all masses exert forces of attraction on other masses wherever they
might be.
• A gravitational eld exists in the space surrounding a mass and is responsible for the force
exerted on any other mass placed in it.
• The force is always directed towards the centre of the mass.
• Gravity is always attractive.

Gravitational Field Strength

The strength of a gravitational eld is directly related to the strength of the force which it exerts on
a body. The greater the force the stronger the eld.

Gravitational eld strength, g, is thus de ned as the force per

unit mass acting at a point in the eld. g is a vector quantity, it
has both direction and size.
fi
fi
fi
fi
fi
fi
fi
fi
fi
fi
fi
fi
fi
fi
fi
fi
fi
fi
fi
fi
fi
fi
fi
fi
fi
fi
fi
fi
ff
fi
fi
fi
fi
fi
fi
fi
fi
fi
 Newton’s Law of Gravitation
He found that the size of F is directly proportional to
the product of their masses and inversely proportional
to the square of their distance apart.

G, the universal constant of gravitation, is equal to 6.67x10-11 N m2

kg^-2. This tiny value explains why you do not feel the gravitational force
between you and the person sitting next to you.

Newton’s law is an example of an inverse square law.

Radial Field Strength

From the de nition of gravitational eld strength, the force, F, on a mass, m at a point where the
eld strength , is given by =

Newton’s law gives the force on m as: = / ^

is the mass (planet) responsible for the eld and is the distance of from the centre of .

The gravitational eld strength is given by = /

Therefore the radial eld strength is given by = / ^ ( − )

It can be seen from the expression for gravitational eld strength, g = GM/r^2, that the value of g
follows an inverse square law. Therefore the acceleration due to gravity is not a constant. We can
approximate gravity as uniform close to the Earth’s surface.

Gradational Potential Energy

The energy gained by an object when it is moved in a direction
against a gravitational eld is called gravitational potential
energy, GPE.

When an object moves in the same direction as a gravitational

eld, work is done on the object and the GPE decreases.

In a uniform eld, close to the surface of a planet for example, the force remains constant as a
mass is lifted higher, above a xed zero level

The force, F required to lift a mass, m, is F = mg

Work done equals force x displacement in the direction of the force: so changing the height by Δh
requires W = mgΔh joules of work. In a uniform eld, the change in GPE is given by: ΔE = mgΔh
If Δh is large then g is no longer constant, we cannot use ΔE = mgΔh to calculate GPE anymore.

Change in GPE = change in x mass:

fi
𝑀
fi
fi
fi
𝒈
fi
fi
fi
𝑭
𝑽
fi
𝒎
𝒈
fi
𝑭
𝒈
fi
𝒈
𝑮
𝐠
𝑭
𝑴
fi
𝒎
𝒎
𝑮
𝑴
𝑟
fi
𝒓
𝒓
𝟐
𝟐
𝑵
𝒌
𝒈
𝟏
𝑚
𝑀
Equipotentials
All points at the same height above a planet have the same value of V. The points all have equal
potential.

All points having the same value gravitational potential form an equipotential surface. No work is
done on an object which moves along an equipotential surface as its GPE does not change.
Work is done when an object crosses equipotential surfaces (i.e. when its GPE changes).