Effects of Gravitation

The Gravitational Field

Region surrounding a mass or body where
another body experiences a force of attraction
due to the first body
There is a gravitational field around the earth,
and it affects a body by giving it an
acceleration due to gravity g, as determined
by Newtons Law of Gravitation.
Using Newtons Law of Gravitation, the force
of attraction between the earth and an object
is given by,

F = G (m
e
m
a
/ r
e
2
)
The weight of a body, w, is the total
gravitational force exerted on it by the earth
equivalent to m x g. So the acceleration due to
gravity of a planet of mass M and radius r is
given by

g = G (M/r
2
)
Pendulum Motion
Another way of deriving g is by using
pendulums. A simple pendulum is just a mass
suspended by a mass less or a string with
negligible mass. Starting from a certain height
an allowed to swing freely, it will move along a
curved path, moving back and forth.

A Simple Pendulum
This could be assumed as uniform circular
motion with a period , so we can use the
equation for the centripetal acceleration a
c
.
The radius of curvature will just be the length
L, so

a
c
= (4
2
r/
2
) = (4
2
L/
2
)
At the lowest point, a
c
is just equal to the
acceleration due to gravity g, so


g = (4
2
L/
2
)

Satellite Motion

Simplifying, we assume the satellite of mass m
follows a uniform circular motion of radius r
around a large body, like earth. We can then
use this equation for centripetal acceleration,

a
c
= (v
2
/r)
directed towards the center of the larger
body, like earth.