PETROVIETNAM UNIVERSITY

FUNDAMENTAL SCIENCE DEPARTMENT

Fundamental of Physics
Pham Hong Quang

E-mail: quangph@pvu.edu.vn

Hanoi, August 2012

Chapter 5 The Law of Gravity

5.1 Newtons Law of Universal

Gravitation
5.2 Keplers Laws
5.3 Keplers First Law
5.4 Keplers Second Law
5.5 Keplers Third Law
5.6 The Gravitational Field
5.7 Gravitational Potential Energy
5.8 Energy and Satellite Motion
Pham Hong Quang

Fundamental Science Department

5.1 Newtons Law of Universal Gravitation

Every particle in the Universe attracts
every other particle with a force of:

r
m1 m2
F12 G 2 r12
r
G: Gravitational constant G = 6.67310-11 Nm2/kg2
m1, m2: masses of particles 1 and 2
R: distance separating these particles

r12 : unit vector in r direction

Pham Hong Quang

Fundamental Science Department

5.1 Newtons Law of Universal Gravitation

In 1789 Henry
Cavendish measured G.
The two small spheres
are fixed at the ends of a
light horizontal rod.
Two large masses were
placed near the small
ones.
The angle of rotation
was measured by the
deflection of a light
beam reflected from a
mirror attached to the
vertical suspension.
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Fundamental Science Department

5.1 Newtons Law of Universal Gravitation

Finding g from
G

What happen if we take in account the rotation of

the Earth ?

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Fundamental Science Department

5.2 Keplers Laws

Keplers First Law
All planets move in elliptical orbits with the Sun
at one focus.
Keplers Second Law
The radius vector drawn from the Sun to a
planet sweeps out equal areas in equal time
intervals.
Keplers Third Law
The square of the orbital period of any planet is
proportional to the cube of the semi-major axis
Fundamental
of the elliptical
orbit.Science Department

Pham Hong Quang

5.2 Keplers Laws

Notes About
and F are each a focus
FEllipses
1

of the ellipse.
They are located a
distance c from the
center.
The sum of r1 and r2
remains constant.
The longest distance
through the center is the
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Fundamental Science Department

5.2 Keplers Laws

Notes About Ellipses,
Cont.

The shortest distance

through the center is the
minor axis.
b is the semi-minor
axis.
The eccentricity of the
ellipse is defined as e = c
/a.
For a circle, e = 0
The range of values of
the eccentricity for
ellipses is 0 < e < 1.
The higher the value
Pham Hong
Quang
Fundamental
of e,
the longer
and Science Department

5.3 Keplers First Law

All planets move in elliptical orbits
with the Sun at one focus.
A circular orbit is a special case of the general
elliptical orbits.
Although we do not prove it here, It is a direct
result of the inverse square nature of the
gravitational force.
Elliptical (and circular) orbits are allowed for bound
objects.
A bound object repeatedly orbits the center.
An unbound object would pass by and not
return.
Pham Hong Quang

Fundamental Science Department

5.3 Keplers First Law

Notes About Ellipses, Planet
Orbits

The Sun is at one focus.

It is not at the center of the ellipse.
Nothing is located at the other focus.
Aphelion is the point farthest away from the
Sun.
The distance for aphelion is a + c.
For an orbit around the Earth, this point is
called the apogee.
Perihelion is the point nearest the Sun.
The distance for perihelion is a c.
For an orbit around the Earth, this point is
called the perigee.

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Fundamental Science Department

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5.4 Keplers Second Law

This law is a consequence of
conservation of angular
momentum for an isolated
system.
Consider the planet as the
system.
Model the Sun as massive
enough compared to the
planets mass that it is
stationary.
The gravitational force exerted
by rthe rSunr on the
is a
r planet
r
L = r force.
x p = MP r x v = constant
central
The
force
producesFundamental
no torque,
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Quang
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5.4 Keplers Second Law, cont.

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12

5.5 Keplers Third Law

This law can be predicted from the inverse square
law
Start by assuming a circular orbit.
The gravitational force supplies a centripetal force.
Ks is a constant

GMSunMPlanet
v2
Fg M p a
MP
2
r
r
2 r
v
T
2

3
4

2
3
T
r

K
r

S
GM
Sun

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Fundamental Science Department

13

5.5 Keplers Third Law,cont.

This can be extended to an elliptical orbit.
Replace r with a.
Remember a is the semi-major axis.
4 2 3
3
T
a

K
a

S
GM
Sun

Ks is independent of the mass of the planet, and

so is valid for any planet.
If an object is orbiting another object, the value
of K will depend on the object being orbited.
For example, for the Moon around the Earth, KSun
is replaced with Kearth.
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Fundamental Science Department

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5.5 Keplers Third Law,cont.

Example, Mass of the
Sun

Using the distance between the Earth and the

Sun, and the period of the Earths orbit, Keplers
Third Law can be used to find the mass of the
Sun.

MSun

4 2 r 3

GT 2

Similarly, the mass of any object being orbited

can be found if you know information about
objects orbitingFundamental
it.
Science Department

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5.6 The Gravitational Field

A gravitational field exists at every point in
space.
The gravitational field isrdefined as
r Fg
g
m
The gravitational field is the gravitational
force experienced by a test particle placed at
that point divided by the mass of the test
particle.
The presence of the test particle is not necessary
for the field to exist.
.
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Fundamental Science Department

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5.6 The Gravitational Field

The gravitational field
vectors point in the
direction of the
acceleration a particle
would experience if
placed in that field.
The magnitude is that of
the free fall acceleration
at that location.

Pham Hong Quang

Fundamental Science Department

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5.7 Gravitational Potential Energy

The gravitational force is conservative.
The change in gravitational potential energy
of a system associated with a given
displacement of a member of the system is
defined as the negative of the internal work
done by the gravitational force on that
rf
member during
Uthe
U displacement.
U F r dr
f

ri

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Fundamental Science Department

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5.7 Gravitational Potential Energy

As a particle moves from A
to B, its gravitational
potential energy changes by
U.
Choose the zero for the
gravitational potential
energy where the force is
zero.
GME m
U (rmeans
)
This
Ui = 0 where
r
ri =

This is valid only for r

RE and not valid for r <

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Fundamental Science Department

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5.7 Gravitational Potential Energy

Graph of the
gravitational potential
energy U versus r for
an object above the
Earths surface.
The potential energy
goes to zero as r
approaches infinity.

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Fundamental Science Department

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5.7 Gravitational Potential Energy

Gravitational Potential Energy,
General
For
any two particles, the gravitational potential
energy function becomes
U

Gm1m2
r

The gravitational potential energy between any two

particles varies as 1/r.
Remember the force varies as 1/r 2.
The potential energy is negative because the force is
attractive and we chose the potential energy to be
zero at infinite separation.
An external agent must do positive work to increase
the separation between two objects.
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Fundamental Science Department

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5.7 Gravitational Potential Energy

Systems with Three or
More Particles
The total gravitational potential
energy of the system is the sum
over all pairs of particles.
Each pair of particles contributes
a term of U.
Assuming three particles:
U total U12 U13 U23
m1m2 m1m3 m2 m3

r
r
r
13
23
12

The absolute value of Utotal

represents the work needed to
separate the particles by an
infinite distance.
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Fundamental Science Department

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5.8 Energy and Satellite Motion

Assume an object of mass m moving with a
speed v in the vicinity of a massive object of
mass M.
M >> m
Also assume M is at rest in an inertial reference
frame.
1 the2 systems
Mm
The total energy is the sum
of
E mv G
2
r
kinetic and potential energies.
Total energy E = K +U
In a bound system, E is necessarily less than 0.

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Fundamental Science Department

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5.8 Energy and Satellite Motion

Energy in a Circular
Orbit
The
total mechanical energy
is negative in the case of a
circular orbit.
The kinetic energy is positive
and is equal to half the
absolute value of the
potential energy.
The absolute value of E is
equal to the binding energy
of the system.

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Fundamental Science Department

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5.8 Energy and Satellite Motion

Escape Speed from
Earth

An object of mass m is

projected upward from the

Earths surface with an
initial speed, vi.
Use energy considerations
to find the minimum value
of the initial speed needed
to allow the object to move
infinitely far away from the
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Fundamental Science Department

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5.8 Energy and Satellite Motion

Because the total energy of the system is constant

This expression can be used to calculate

the maximum altitude h because we
know that
Letting

rmax

and takingvi v esc

obtain:

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we

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5.8 Energy and Satellite Motion

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Fundamental Science Department

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Thank you!

Pham Hong Quang

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