Newton’s Law of

Universal Gravitation
 Isaac Newton
 1666, England (45 years
after Kepler).
Newton’s Law of
Universal Gravitation
 The apple was attracted
to the Earth
 All objects in the Universe
were attracted to each
other in the same way the
apple was attracted to the
Earth

02/08/22
Newton’s Law of
Universal Gravitation
 Every particle in the Universe attracts every
other particle with a force that is directly
proportional to the product of the masses and
inversely proportional to the square of the
distance between them.

m1m2
F G 2
r

02/08/22
Universal Gravitation
 G is the constant of universal gravitation
 G = 6.673 x 10-11 N m² /kg²
 This is an example of an inverse square law
 Determined experimentally
 Henry Cavendish in 1798

m1m2
F G 2
r

02/08/22
 Questions
 If the planets are orbiting the sun , what force is
keeping them in orbit?
 What force keeps the moon in its orbit?
 Could the force of gravity be universal?
Universal Gravitation
 The force that mass 1 exerts
on mass 2 is equal and
opposite to the force mass 2
exerts on mass 1
 The forces form a Newton’s
third law action-reaction
 The gravitational force exerted by a uniform
sphere on a particle outside the sphere is the
same as the force exerted if the entire mass of the
sphere were concentrated on its center

02/08/22
 Newton’s Law of Universal
Gravitation
 Any two objects attract each other with a
gravitational force, proportional to the product
of their masses and inversely proportional to
the square of the distance between them.

 The force acts in the direction of the line

connecting the centers of the masses.
 Newton’s Law of Universal
Gravitation

http://scienceblogs.com/startswithabang/upload/2009/07/meet_our_second_moon/400px-NewtonsLawOfUniversalGravitation.svg.png
Why does the moon not fall straight
down onto the earth?
 Henry
Cavendish’s
experiment
determined the
proportionality
constant
G
in 1798.

http://www.newscientist.com/data/images/archive/1639/16390101.jpg
The Value of G.

G= 6.67 x 10-11 N m2 / kg2

Change of
Gravitational
Force with
Distance

 Law of universal
gravitation is
known as an
inverse square
law.
 Problem 1
 Two spheres of mass 35kg are 60m apart.

A) What force does one exert on the other?

B) If the mass of one is tripled and the radius

is quadrupled how does the force change?
Problem 2
 Two spheres of equal mass have a force
of gravity of 7x10-9 exerted on each other.
If the distance between them is 7m, find
the mass.
Problem 3
 Find the value of the gravitational
acceleration g. The mass of the earth is
6.0 x 1024kg.