gravitational force escape velocity - Overview, Structure, Properties & Uses

Gravitational Force Escape Velocity - Detailed Guide

Edited By Team Careers360 | Updated on Jun 02, 2022 04:07 PM IST

In this article, we are going to have a full discussion on, what is gravitational force, definition of gravitational force, what is the meaning of gravitation, examples of gravitational force, causes of gravitational force, gravitational force of earth and a lot more related concepts to gravitational force, under class 8 and we will also study meaning and importance of gravitational force in class 9 and in class 11 also.

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GRAVITATIONAL FORCE PICTURE

What is the meaning of gravitation/ definition of gravitation?

Gravitation means the force of attraction between any two objects. Or tendency of particles four bodies to move towards each other is called gravitation.

NCERT Physics Notes:

What is gravitational force/ what is meant by gravitational force? And some examples of gravitational force.

GRAVITATIONAL FORCE EXAMPLE IMAGE

What is gravitational force/have you ever wondered, why does anything thrown up falls down? Why doesn’t the moon falls to earth? Why doesn’t the earth fly off into the vast space rather than rotating in its orbit around the sun? Why do all the planets revolve around the sun? Why is going upstairs lot more tiring than going downstairs? In all these cases there must be some force acting on the moon, the planets and the falling bodies the force acting on them is called gravitational force one of the standing goals of physics is to understand the gravitational force. The force that holds us to the earth, holds all the objects surrounding you to earth, holds the moon in orbit revolving around the earth holds earth and all planets in their individual path around the sun. This force is the reason for our milky way galaxy holding together billions of stars in the universe and the countless astronomical bodies between stars.

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Causes of gravitational force

Gravitational force is a type of non-contact force. This is the force when the two interacting bodies are not in direct physical contact with each other, here, they are able to exert a push or pull despite their separation.

So, the question here is what causes the gravitational force? What is meant by gravitational force? And some examples of gravitational force.

NEWTON UNDER APPLE TREE

There is a popular story that one day, newton was sitting under an apple tree an apple fell on his head and he suddenly thought of the force of gravitation. He thought about the following lines-

If the apple is accelerated there must be a force acting on it. If the force which is at the top of the highest level of tree might did not reach even further all the way to moon? By such reasonings newton came to the conclusion that,

Any two objects in the universe exert gravitational force of attraction on each other and he proposed the definition of gravitational force, as the force is directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.

Till now, we have understood the meaning of gravitational force very clearly and the importance of gravitational force on earth as well as in whole universe.

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Calculate earth’s gravitational force on earth’s bodies / calculate acceleration due to gravity

According to newton’s universal law of gravitational force,

F = G M1M2 / R2 ….(1)

Where, G= 6.673 X 10-11 (Gravitational Constant)

M1= 1.99 X 10 30 KG (Mass of earth here in this case)

R = 6.96 X 108 M (Radius of the earth)

As, force on a body is given as,

F= M G ….(2)

F = G M1M2 / R2 = M2 G

Hence,

g = G M1 / R2

By putting all the values, we get

g = 9.8 M/S2

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Calculate gravitational pull/ force exerted by earth on moon

As moon revolves around the earth the moon experiences a centripetal acceleration directed the earth an object near the earth surface such as the apple experiences an acceleration g.

Newton calculated the acceleration of a body towards the earth is inversely proportional to the square of distance of the body from the center of the earth by using inverse square law.

According to the formula of inverse square law-

Where, g is acceleration due to gravity

RE is radius of the earth

AM is the centripetal acceleration

RE Is distance between earth and moon

g / AM = (1 / RE)2 / (1 / RM)2

By substituting the values,

RM = 3.85 X 108 M AND RE = 6.38 X 106 M

We get,

g /AM = 3600 (APPROX.)

AND AM = 9.8 / 3600

= 2.7 X 10-3 M/S2

Also, RM / RE = 60

Aa,

g = 9.8 M/S2

Newton also calculated the centripetal acceleration of moon from a knowledge of its mean distance from the earth and its orbital.

As Centripetal Acceleration IS AM = V2 / RM = (4П2RM /T2)

Where, V = 2 П RM / T

By substituting the value of t is equal to 27.3 days and

RM = 3.85 X 108 M,

We Get, AM= 2.7 X 10-3 M/S2

Similarly, gravitational force of sun is also calculated

Gravitational pull of the earth and sun is equal to

3.52 x 1022 newtons.

Gravitational force on different planets is different because of their varying mass. More is the mass of planet more is the gravitational force applied by it. Also closer anybody is more is the gravitational force. Hence, in our solar system jupiter has maximum force on earth and 2nd planet is venus and mercury has lowest gravitational pull.

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. Define acceleration due to gravity.

When a force acts on body, it produces acceleration whenever a body falls freely towards the earth under the effect of gravitational pull, its velocity changes with time. Therefore, the acceleration produced in the motion of body under the effect of gravity is called acceleration due to gravity.

2. Give two examples of gravitational force in our daily life.

Ball a ball thrown up in the air returns to the surface of the earth after traveling in the projectile motion because of the gravitational force.

Free falling of any object

3. Calculate the gravitational force exerted by you on earth.

If suppose your mass is 54kg then the force of gravity exerted by you on earth will be calculated as

F = 54 x 9.8 = 529.2 newton

4. What are the three laws of universal gravitational force?

The three basic laws of planetary motion given by kepler can be stated as,

Kepler’s first law all planets move in an elliptical orbit with the sun at one of the foci of the ellipse.
Kepler’s second law the line that joins any planet to the sun sweeps out equal areas in equal intervals of time.
Kepler’s third law the square of the time period of revolution of a planet is proportional to the cube of the semi major axis of the ellipse placed out by the planet.

5. Define escape velocity in gravitational force.

In physics, escape velocity is the minimum force that is required to escape the surface of the earth without any further acceleration the value of escape velocity is independent of the mass of the projectiles and it depends on the mass and radius of the planet from which it is being projected for example escape velocity is more on poles and less on equator.