Newton’s Universal Law of Gravitation

Gravitation
We know that any object, when released from a height always falls downwards. It
means that a force of attraction is exerted on the object in the downward direction.
Actually it is the earth that attracts all the objects towards its centre.
The force with which the earth attracts all the objects towards its centre is called
gravitational force or gravity.

Universal Law of Gravitation

According to this law, ‘every particle of matter in the universe attracts every other
particle with a force which varies directly as the product of masses of the two
particles and inversely as the square of the distance between them’.

Let there be two bodies having masses m1 and m2 which are separated by a distance
r. The force of attraction between the two bodies is F.
F can be formulated mathematically in the following way:

Universal constant of gravitation G is numerically equal to the force of attraction

between two particles of unit mass each separated by unit distance.

The proportionality constant plays two important roles in this equation. Firstly, it
scales the right-hand side of the equation so that the value of the right-hand side
matches the size of the gravitational force produced (measured in newtons).
Secondly, it ensures that the units on each side of the equation are the same.
Why the law is called universal?
Newton’s law of gravitation holds good for all the bodies of any size and shape in the
universe and also it remains invariant under any physical or chemical changes. That’s
why this law is called Universal.

Importance of Universal Law of Gravitation:

The gravitational force explains several natural phenomena:

i). Planets revolve around sun due to gravitational force between sun and the planets.
ii). Earth binds all objects on due to this force.
iii). Rainfall, snowfall etc. take place due to gravitational force of earth.
iv). Moon and other artificial satellites revolve around earth due to this force.
v). Tides in ocean is due to gravitational force between moon and water.
vi). The atmosphere is there around earth due to gravitational force of the earth.

Gravitational force between objects of Small size and Big size:

1. i) Suppose two bodies of masses 1 kg each placed at a distance 1 m from each
other. Then gravitational force between them is
2. The mass of the earth is 6 × 1024 kg and that of the moon is 7.4 × 1022 kg. If the
distance between the earth and the moon is 3.84 × 105 km, calculate the force exerted
by the earth on the moon.
Solution:
Given that,

The mass of the earth, m1 is 6 × 1024 kg.

The mass of the moon, m2 is 7.4 × 1022 kg.

The distance between earth and moon, r, is 3.84 × 105 km.

The formula to calculate the force exerted by the earth on the moon is:
Gm 1 m2 6.67×10−11×6×1024×7.4×1022
F= =
r2 (3.84×10 8)2
20
2.02×10 N
Hence, the force exerted by the earth on the moon is equal to 2.02 × 1020
N.

3.A satellite A has twice the mass of satellite B. The satellite A orbit the planet
with the half-radius of B satellite. How many times the force on A satellite in
comparison to B satellite by earth?

Solution:
Consider the mass of B satellite as m and the mass of A satellite as 2m.

Now, to calculate gravitational force for both satellite divide both forces to
obtain an equation as:
 Now divide the force on A by Force on B as:

Hence, the force on satellite A is 8 times the force on satellite B.

4. Two objects, A and B, are in deep space. The distance between the centers of
mass of the two objects is 20 m. Object A has a mass of 30 000 kg and object B
has a mass of 55 000 kg. What is the magnitude of the gravitational force
between them? Use a value of m3/kg⋅s2 for the universal gravitational constant.
Give your answer in scientific notation to two decimal places.

5.Titan is the largest moon of Saturn. It has a mass of kg. Saturn has a mass of
kg. If the magnitude of the gravitational force between them is N, what is the
distance between the centers of mass of Saturn and Titan? Use a value of
m3/kg⋅s2 for the universal gravitational constant. Give your answer in scientific
notation to two decimal places.
Acceleration Due to Gravity
The acceleration produced in a body on account of the force of gravity is known
as acceleration due to gravity. It is usually denoted by ‘g’. It is always towards
the centre of Earth. The symbol g represents the acceleration due by gravity. Its
typical value at sea level on the surface of the earth is 9.8 ms-2. The second law
of motion and the law of universal gravitation of Newton serve as the foundation
for its calculation.

Let us consider the earth to be a complete sphere of Radius RE and mass ME. Let
an object of mass m be at point P above the earth surface at a height h.

M is the mass of the earth

(or ME)

and R is the radius of the

earth (RE)

According to the universal law of gravitation,

GmME
F= 2
…………………………….1
(R E +h)

If the object is falling on the earth surface with acceleration (g), the at P,
according to the second law of motion:

F = mg ……………………………………...2

where F is the force acting on the object,

g is the acceleration due to gravity and

Since (1) and (2) represent the same force, we can write
 G m ME
mg=
(R E + h)2

GME
g= 2
(RE + h)

Consider for an ideal case where the object is placed near to earth surface
(or the object is on the earth surface), then h can be neglected.
G ME
g= 2
, which is the acceleration
RE
due to gravity on the earth surface.

Calculation of the Value of Acceleration due to Gravity

The acceleration due to gravity is stated as:

G ME
g= 2
RE

Here, substitute 6.67 × 10-11 Nm2 kg-2 for G, 6 ×1024 kg for M and 6.4
× 106 m for r in the above expression to calculate g at the surface of Earth.

Hence, the value of acceleration due to gravity on the surface of Earth is

9.8 m/s2.

Gravity on other astronomical bodies may be found by applying a modified version

of the equation for g on Earth.
The equation can be rewritten to apply to any mass and radius as follows:

g = GM/R2
The following example shows how the equation may be used to find the acceleration
of gravity on the surface of the Moon.
Factor affecting Acceleration due to Gravity

• Shape of Earth: It is known that the shape of the earth is not spherical it’s
quite oval so the gravitational force is different at different places. The force of
attraction is maximum at the pole of the earth approximately 9.82 m/s2 as the
radius of the earth is minimum at the pole. While the force of gravitation is
minimum at the equator of the earth at approximately 9.78 m/s2 as the radius of
the earth is maximum at the equator
• Altitude: When a body moves away from the surface of the earth the force of
attraction decreases as the distance between the earth and the body increases.
• Depth: When a body is put inside the earth’s surface the acceleration due to
gravity becomes less.
Note :

1. Gravitational force is a conservative force. The force is attractive in nature.

Thus force is independent of the intervening medium. The force does not depend
on the presence of other bodies.

2. Newton's Universal Law of Gravitation has successfully explained the

observation on planetary motions made by the German astronomer Kepler. It
shows shortcomings when explaining the unusual orbit of Mercury around the
Sun. It breaks down when the gravitational forces get very strong or involving
bodies moving at speeds near that of light. Einstein's General Theory of
Relativity, which has overcome this limitation of Newton's Law, was able to
demonstrate a better theory of gravitation.
QUESTIONS

1) Determine the force of gravitational attraction between the earth (m = 5.98 x

1024 kg) and a 70-kg physics student if the student is standing at sea level, a distance
of 6.38 x 106 m from earth's center.

2) The force of attraction between two sphere of masses 40 kg and 10 kg equal to

the weight of a body of mass 10.94 × 10−9 kg . If the distance between the centres of
the spheres is 0.5 m, calculate the value G. Given g=9.8 ms-2.

3) Two spheres of mass 35kg are 60m apart.

a) What force does one exert on the other?

b) If the mass of one is tripled and the radius is quadrupled how does the force
change?
4) Two spheres of equal mass have a force of gravity of 7x10-9 exerted on each
other. If the distance between them is 7m, find the mass.

5) A satellite of earth revolves in a circular orbit at a height of 250 km above the

earth’s surface. What is the orbital velocity of the satellite? Given radius of earth is
6400 km and acceleration due to gravity on the surface of the earth is 9.8 ms−2 .

6) Assuming that a satellite is revolving round the earth in a circular orbit of

height 900 km from the surface of earth. Calculate the time period and orbital
velocity of satellite. Given that radius of earth is 6400 km, acceleration due to gravity
is 9.8 ms −2 and mass of earth is 6 x 1024 kg . 𝐺 = 6.67 × 10−11 𝑁𝑚2 𝑘𝑔−2

7) Two spherical objects have masses of 3.1 x 105 kg and 6.5 x 103 kg. The
gravitational attraction between them is 65 N. How far apart are their centers?

8) Two spherical objects have masses of 3.1 x 105 kg and 6.5 x 103 kg. The
gravitational attraction between them is 65 N. How far apart are their centers?

9) A 1 kg object is located at a distance of 6.4 x106 m from the center of a larger

object whose mass is 6.0 x 1024 kg.
a. What is the size of the force acting on the smaller object?
b.What is the size of the force acting on the larger object?
c.What is the acceleration of the smaller object when it is released?
d. What is the acceleration of the larger object when it is released?

10) Compute g for the surface of a planet whose radius is half that of the Earth and
whose mass is double that of the Earth.

11) Find the acceleration due to gravity of the moon at a point 1000 km above the
moon's surface. The mass of the Moon 7.4 × 1022 kg and its radius is 1740 km. 𝐺
=6.7 × 10−11 N m2 kg−2

12) Jupiter has a mass 317 times that of the earth, and its radius is 10.95 times the
earth's radius. Estimate the escape velocity of a body from Jupiter surface, given that
the escape velocity from earth's surface is 11.2 km/s