GRAVITATION

1. Two planets A and B describe circles of radii r1 and r2 round the sun as centre with speed varying
inversely as the square root of their radii. Find the angle between the radii of these two when their
relative angular velocity is zero.
(
⎛ r1r2 r1 + r2 ⎞
cos −1 ⎜ ⎟
)
⎜ r2 r2 + r1 r1 ⎟
Ans: ⎝ ⎠
2. If a planet was suddenly stopped in its orbit supposed to be circular, show that it would fall onto
2
the sun in a time 8 times the period of the planet's revolution.
3. A thin spherical shell of total mass M and radius R is held fixed. There is a small hole in the shell.
A mass m is released from rest a distance R from the hole along a line that passes through the hole
and also through the centre of mass of the shell. This mass subsequently moves under
gravitational force of the shell. How long does the mass take to travel from the hole to the point
diametrically opposite?

R3
2
Ans: GM
4. A satellite is revolving round the earth in a circular orbit of radius r and velocity v0. A particle is
⎛ 5 ⎞
v = ⎜⎜ − 1⎟⎟ v0
4
projected from the satellite in forward direction with relative velocity, ⎝ ⎠ . Calculate its
minimum and maximum distances from earth's centre during subsequent motion of the particle.
Ans: 5r/3, r
5. Two earth's satellites move in a common plane along circular orbits. The orbital radius of one
satellite is r = 7000 km while that of the other is 70 km less. What time interval separates the
periodic approaches of the satellites to each other over the minimum distance ?
⎛ −11 m3 ⎞
⎜ G = 6.67 ×10 2
and mass of earth , M = 6 ×1024 kg ⎟
⎝ kg − s ⎠
Ans: 0.8 hrs. , 4.5 days
6. A body is launched from the earth's surface at an angle α = 30° to the horizontal at a speed
1.5GM
v0 =
R . Neglecting air resistance and earth's rotation. Find the height to which the body
will rise. Here M is mass of earth and R the radius of earth.
Ans: 2.323R
7. An earth satellite is revolving in a circular orbit of radius ‘a’ with velocity v0. A gun is in the
satellite and is aimed directly towards the earth. A bullet is fired from the gun with muzzle

 velocity v0/2 . Neglecting resistance offered by cosmic dust and recoil of gun, calculate maximum
and minimum distance of bullet from the centre of earth during its subsequent motion.
Ans: 2a, 2a/3
8. One of the star of a binary (double) stars system is rotating in a circular orbit of radius r with
1
time period T. If the mass of this star is m find the mass m of the other star. Also find the
1, 2
distance between the two stars. Take and T=20 hrs, .
Hint: For the equation
Ans: 3 × 1030kg, 2.273 × 106km
9. Binary stars of comparable masses m1 and m2 rotate under the influence of each other's gravity
with a time period T. If they are stopped suddenly in their motions, find their relative velocity
when they collide with each other. The radii of the stars are R1 and R2 respectively. G is the
universal constant of gravitation.
1
⎡ 2 3
⎤
⎢ 1 ⎧
⎪ 4π ⎫
⎪ ⎥
2G (m1 + m2 )⎢ −⎨ 2⎬ ⎥
R + R2 ⎪⎩ G (m1 + m2 )T ⎪⎭
⎢⎣ 1 ⎥⎦
Ans:
10. The line joining the positions of three identical stars, each of mass M, forms an equilateral triangle
of side a. A particle, located at the centroid of the equilateral triangle, is given a velocity v0 in a
direction perpendicular to the plane of the triangle. If the particle stops momentarily after
travelling a distance 3a, then find v0.

2GM ⎛ 3 ⎞
⎜⎜ 3 3 − ⎟
a ⎝ 28 ⎟⎠
Ans:
11. If the earth (supposed spherical) was covered by an ocean of uniform depth h, prove that the value
4π Gh 2 ρ − 3σ / 3
( )
of the gravity at the bottom of the ocean would exceed that at the top by
approximately, where σ is density of ocean, ρ is mean density of the earth, (h<<R, radius of the
earth)
12. A rocket is launched from and returns to a spherical planet of radius R in such a way that its
velocity vector on return is parallel to its launch vector. The angular separation at the centre of the
planet between the launch and arrival points is θ . How long does the flight of the rocket take, if
the period of a satellite flying around the planet just above its surface is T0? What is the maximum
distance of the rocket above the surface of the planet? Consider whether your analysis also applies
to the limiting case of θ → 0 .
⎛1 1 θ⎞ θ
T0 ⎜ + cos ⎟ , R cos
⎝2 π 2⎠ 2

IIT JEE PROBLEMS

 13. There is a crater of depth R/100 on the surface of the moon (radius R). A projectile is fired
vertically upward from the crater with a velocity, which is equal to the escape velocity v from the
surface of the moon. Find the maximum height attained by the projectile. (JEE 2003)
Ans: h = 99.5R
14. Distance between the centers of two stars is 10a. The masses of these stars are M and 16M and
their radii a and 2a respectively. A body of mass m is fired straight from the surface of the larger
star towards the smaller star. What should be its minimum initial speed to reach the surface of the
smaller star? Obtain the expression in terms of G, M and a. (JEE 1996)
3 5 GM
Ans: 2 a