9 Gravitation

Tides are one of the best applications of gravity, and when we talk about daily
tides, the moon's gravity is what causes them. Tides are caused by the combined
gravitational attraction of the Sun and Moon, as well as the rotation of the Earth.
Because the Moon is far closer to the Earth than the Sun, its gravitational pull has a
bigger effect on creating tidal force.
 | TOPIC 1 |
GRAVITATION

Learning Objectives
 Students will learn and understand Newton’s Universal Law of
Gravitation.
 Students will learn about the units and value of Gravitational constant.
 Students will learn about the importance of the Universal Law of
Gravitation.
Learning Outcomes
 Students will be able to explain Newton’s Universal Law of Gravitation.
 Students will be able to derive the formula to calculate the Universal Law
of Gravitation.
 Students will be able to appreciate the importance of the Universal Law
of gravitation.
 Students will be able to apply knowledge to explain the concept of the
gravitational force between light and heavy objects.

Real Life Application

It is very obvious that we all loved to play, slide, jump and run when we were
kids. But have you ever thought about what made these activities possible?
Come, let us have a look. It became possible only due to the presence of
‘Gravity’.
In your childhood, when you rode through a slide, you always ended up
reaching towards the ground. Yes! It is because of gravity only. But do you
know if someone tries to perform the same sliding process in the space, it
would not be possible as the space is a zero-gravity region?
There are a number of examples of gravity such as fruits falling from trees,
rolling objects, walking, revolution of celestial bodies, etc. Let us now have a
brief look about the gravity (or) gravitational force in this topic.

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As we had studied in earlier chapters, to bring the body in motion, force is
required. Force produces motion in the body. We all know that when we
drop anything, it falls to the ground. Assume you’re playing with a ball and it
escapes from your grasp. So, where does it go from there?
It will fall towards the Earth. There is something in the earth that
attracts everything to itself, or that the Earth serves as a magnet and
attracts everything to itself. When we throw a ball or a stone from
a certain height, it falls towards the Earth since it exerts attraction
force on the stone or ball. This attraction force is called gravity or
gravitational force.
Once, Isaac Newton was sitting in a garden under an apple tree, when one
of the apples from the tree fell on him. According to Newton, an apple falls
from a tree to the ground because the earth exerts a downward “force of
attraction” on the apple. A falling apple can be seen being drawn to the
ground. Is it true that the apple attracts the Earth? If that’s the case, we
don’t observe the Earth approaching an apple. Why? The apple, according
to Newton’s third law of motion, attracts the Earth. However, according
to the second law of motion, acceleration is inversely proportional to an
object’s mass for a given force. When compared to the mass of the Earth,
the mass of an apple is very small. As a result, the earth does not appear to
be moving towards the apple. This force of attraction exerted by the Earth is
called Gravity.

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Our complex universe is held together by the force of attraction, which keeps
the moon spinning around the Earth, and all the planets in their orbits around
the Sun and helps us walk appropriately on the Earth’s surface.

Falling of objects
downward is due
to Earth’s gravity

Gravitational force of the Earth

Motion of planets in a circular orbit; motion of the moon around the earth or
movement of satellites in a circular orbit around the planets; it all happens
due to a force called centripetal force which makes an object move in a
circular path or orbit.
In the case of planets, the moon or satellite’s centripetal force is provided by
a force of attraction called the gravitational force of the sun, earth or planets
respectively.
Important
 When a body moves in a circular motion, it experiences a force that acts
towards the centre of circle called centripetal force, i.e., centre-seeking force.

Gravitation keeps satellites in orbit

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Since the Sun and the Earth have such large masses, they exert tremendous
force on each other. The Earth moves in a uniform circular motion around
the Sun due to the gravitational attraction between the Sun and the earth.
Similarly, the gravitational attraction between the Earth and the Moon
causes the moon to rotate around the sun at a continuous rate. As a result,
the gravitational pull is accountable for our solar system’s existence. Many
natural phenomena, including motion of the planet around the sun, motion
of the moon around the earth, formation of tides, flow of water in a river and
rain falling to the ground are satisfactorily explained by Newton’s theory of
gravitation.

Moon's
speed

Gravity Gravity

Moon

Earth

Force of gravity between Earth and Moon

Example 1. Why isn’t the satellite, which is spinning in Earth’s orbit,
falling with it due to gravitational attraction?
Ans. This can be understood with an example: Assume you’re spinning
a ball with a string attached to it. Consider yourself to be Earth, the
string to be gravity and the ball to be a satellite. This ball (satellite) is
attempting to travel away from you (earth), but its speed combined with
the gravitational attraction of the string keeps the ball (satellite) in orbit.
If string is released, the rotating
ba ll goes straight.

Side view Top view

The satellite is only able to spin around the planet due to gravitational
pull.
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•
•
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6 Science Class IX
 OBJECTIVE Type Questions
[ 1 mark ]

Multiple Choice Questions

1. A body has a mass of 2 kg. When will the mass of the body change?
(a) When the body is taken to the moon.
(b) When the body is dropped from a height.
(c) When the body is being pulled along a smooth surface.
(d) The mass of the body will not change unless it is cut or broken. 
 [Delhi Gov. QB 2022]
Ans.(d) The mass of the body will not change unless it is cut or broken.
Explanation: Mass of the body does not change at any time.
2. The drawing shows an apple falling to the ground. In which of the
three positions does gravity act on the apple?

Position 1
Position 2
Position 3

(a) Position 1 only

(b) Positions 1 and 2
(c) Positions 1, 2 and 3
(d) Position 3 only [Delhi Gov. QB 2022]
Ans.(c) Positions 1, 2 and 3
Explanation: The falling of an apple is an example of free fall. Everything
on the earth is attracted towards the earth. When an apple is falling
freely, there is absolutely no change in the direction of motion of object.
But due to constant gravitational pull of the earth, the magnitude of
velocity of body in free fall goes on increasing. So, the earth’s gravity
i.e., the attraction between the earth and an apple is there at all three
positions i.e., 1, 2 and 3.

CASE BASED Questions (CBQs)

[ 4 & 5 marks ]
Read the following passages and answer the questions that follow:

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 3. Sahil was driving the car at a very high speed to reach the hospital and
he tried to drift the car. But the car slides from a ledge and falls to the
ground in 2 seconds due to brake failure. Take acceleration due to gravity,
g = 10 m/s2.

(A) What is the speed at which the car hits the ground?
(B) What is the height of the ledge above the ground?
(C) What is more fundamental: mass or weight? [Diksha]
Ans.Given,
Time taken = 2 sec
Acceleration due to gravity, g = 10 m/s2
Initial velocity, u = 0 m/s (Since the car is under free fall)
(A)When car hits the ground i.e., under free fall condition,
Using the formula,
v = u + gt
v = 0 +10 x 2
v = 20 m/s
(B)Height of the ledge above the ground,
Using the equation,
h = ut + 1 gt 2
2
Where,
h is the height,
t is the free fall period, and
g is the gravitational acceleration,
h = 0 × t + 1 ×10 × (2)2
2

h = 20 m

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 (C)Mass is more fundamental than weight because mass of body remains
constant, but weight of body changes due to changes in g.

VERY SHORT ANSWER Type Questions (VSA)

[ 1 mark ]

4. Find the volume of stone immersed in the liquid in the given figure.

 [Diksha]
Ans. vol of stone = vol of water displaced = 2 mL

SHORT ANSWER Type-I Questions (SA-I)

[ 2 marks ]

5. A piece of copper of mass 120 g is dipped in a measuring cylinder

containing water at 30 mL mark. The water rises to 42 mL mark. Find
(A) volume of the copper piece
(B) the density of the copper.
Ans.(A) Initial volume of water = 30 mL
Final volume of water = 42 mL
Volume of copper piece = 42 – 30
= 12 mL or 12 cm3
(B) Density of copper
Mass of copper piece
=
Volume of copper piece

120 g
d=
12 mL

= 10 g/cm3
or 10 × 1000 kg/m3.

SHORT ANSWER Type-II Questions (SA-II)

[ 3 marks ]

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 6. The diagram shows the equation for universal gravitation where:
A B

Mm
F=G 2
d

F is a force,
M is the mass of body A,
m is the mass of body B and
d is the distance between them.
G is the universal gravitational constant.
(A) Describe and explain the relationships between F, M, m and d.
(B) Describe two differences between g and G. [British Council 2022]
Ans.(A) (F is due to):
Attraction between masses; gravitational attraction; F increases with
mass;
F decreases with the square of the distance.
(B) ‘g’ varies while G is constant;
‘g’ is a vector while G is a scalar;
‘g’ and G have different units i.e., G = N m2/kg2 and g = m/s2 
(Any two)

LONG ANSWER Type Questions (LA)

[ 4 & 5 marks ]

7. A ball is permitted to fall from the top of a 200-metre-high tower

while another ball is projected vertically upwards from the ground at
a speed of 50 metres per second. Determine when and where the two
stones will meet.
Ans.

m/s

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Let the ball meet at point A after time t.
Ball thrown from top of the tower vertically downward.
Initial velocity, u’ = 0 m/s
Distance travelled,
h =x
Time taken = t
g = 10 m/s2 (As the stone is falling down)
1
h = ut + gt 2
2

x = 1
× 10 ×t 2
2

x = 5t2 ... (i)

For stone thrown vertically upwards
Initial velocity, u = 50 m/s
Distance covered, h’ = (200–x)
g = –10 m/s2 (As the stone is going upward)
1
h ' = ut + gt 2
2
1
200 – x = 50t – × 10 × t 2
2

... (ii)
200 – x = 50t –5t 2

Adding equations (i) and (ii), we get

50t = 200
t = 4 sec ... (iii)
From equation (iii),
x = 5t2 = 5(4)2 = 80 m
As a result, after 4 seconds, the stones collide at a height of 120 metres
above the ground.

Gravitation 11