Unit-6

Gravitation
1. What is the value of the universal gravitational constant on the surface of the moon?
2. Imagine a spacecraft going from earth to moon. How does its weight vary as it goes
from the earth to the moon?
3. Represent graphically the variation of g (acceleration due to gravity) with r (the distance
from the centre of the earth).
4. What is the significance of the negative value of gravitational potential?
5. Why cannot natural satellites be used for communication purposes?
6. Why are space rockets usually launched from west to east and that too in the equatorial
plane?
7. What is the reason for the absence of atmosphere on some planets?
8. A small mass is released by an astronaut in space. Will it fall on earth? Justify your
answer.
9. A satellite is circling around the earth. If its distance from earth be increased then what
will happen to its orbital speed?
10. One satellite of mass m is at a distance r from earth’s centre and the other of mass 2m
is at a distance 2r from earth’s centre. What is the ratio of their time periods?
11. The mean radius of earth is Re. Its angular speed is ω and acceleration due to gravity at
its surface is g. What is the cube of the radius of the orbit of geostationary satellite?
12. If g is the acceleration due to gravity on the earth’s surface. What will be the gain in
potential energy of an object of mass m raised from the surface of the earth to a height
equal to the radius R of the earth.
13. If mass of the earth is Me and radius Re, then what is the ratio between acceleration
due to gravity g and gravitational constant G?
14. If acceleration due to gravity at earth is g. Mass of earth is 80 times that of the moon
and the radius of earth is 4 times that of the moon. Find the acceleration due to gravity
on moon.
15. If earth stops rotating about its axis. What will happen to the weight of the body (i) at the
North pole (ii) at the equator.
16. An artificial satellite moving in a circular orbit has total energy E. What is its potential
energy?
17. The escape velocity from earth’s surface is 11 km/s. If radius of a planet is double to
that of the earth but the average density is same as that of the earth. Then what would
be the escape velocity from the planet.
18. If the distance between earth and sun were half its present value. What would have
been the number of days in a year?
19. Orbital speed of Jupiter should be greater or smaller than that of earth. Justify your
answer.
20. Define intensity of gravitational field and give its unit.
21. A body weighs 90 kg on the surface of the earth. How much will it weigh on the surface
of mars whose mass is 1/9 and radius ½ that of earth.
22. If G=6.67 x 10-11Nm2kg-2, g=9.8 ms-2 and radius of earth R=6.4 x 106 m, find the mean
density of earth.
23. The radius of earth is 6400 km. What will be the weight of a 60 kg body, if it is taken to
the height of 1600 km above the surface of the earth.
24. Calculate the value of g at the bottom of sea 8 km deep, taking the radius of earth to be
6400 km and the value of g on the surface of the earth to be 9.8 ms-2.
25. If the earth has a mass 9 times and radius twice that of the planet Mars, calculate the
minimum velocity required by a rocket to pull out of the gravitational force of Mars.
Escape velocity on the surface of the earth is 11.2 km/s.
26. Calculate escape velocity of an atmosphere particle 800 km above the surface of earth.
27. The acceleration due to gravity on a planet is 1.96 m/s2. If it is safe to jump from a
height of 2 m on earth, find the corresponding safe height on the planet.
28. A satellite of mass m is revolving round the earth in an orbit of radius 2R. Calculate the
work done to move the satellite to an orbit of radius 3R.
29. The escape velocity of a projectile on the surface of earth is 11.2 km/s. A body is
projected out with twice this speed. What is the speed of the body far away from the
earth?
30. A rocket is fired vertically upwards from the surface of the earth with a velocity of 6 km/s.
Calculate the max. height reached by it. [Re=6.4 x 106 m, Me =6 x 1024 kg].
31. A satellite revolves in an orbit close to the surface of a planet of density 6300 kgm -3.
Calculate period of a satellite.
32. An artificial satellite is moving in a circular orbit around the earth in a circular orbit
with a speed equal to half the magnitude of escape velocity from the earth.
(i) Determine the height of the satellite above the earth’s surface
(ii) If the satellite is stopped suddenly in its orbit and allowed to fall freely on the
earth, find the speed with which it hits the surface of the earth.
(g=9.8 ms-2, Re=6400 km)
33. A particle is projected vertically upwards from the surface of the earth equal to half of
the minimum value needed for it to escape. Calculate the height to which it rises above
the surface of the earth.
34. An artificial satellite of mass 100 kg is in a circular orbit of 500 km above the earth’s
surface. Mass of the earth Me=6 x 1024 kg, radius of earth 6.4 x 106 m. Find
(i) the acceleration due to gravity at any point along the satellite orbit,
(ii) the centripetal acceleration of the satellite,
(iii) the K.E.
(iv) the P.E.
(v) the total energy
35. A satellite revolves around the planet in an orbit just above the surface of the planet.
Taking G=6.67 x 10-11Nm2kg-2 and mean density of the planet 5.5 x 103 kg/m3. Find the
period of the planet.
36. What should be the percentage increase in the orbital velocity of Earth so that the
object on equator escapes?
37. Calculate the velocity with which a body projected from the surface of the moon may
escape its gravitational pull. Also find the value of g at the moon. Given M m=7.5 X1025
gram, Rm=1.6 x106 metre, G=6.67 X10-8 C.G.S. units.
38. Calculate the mass of the sun. Given that the distance between the sun and the earth =
1.49 x1011 m. 1 year =365 days.
39. If the radius of the earth shrinks by 2% mass remaining the same, then how would the
value of acceleration due to gravity change?
40. If earth were made of lead of relative density 11.3, what then would be the value of
acceleration due to gravity on the surface of earth? Radius of earth = 6.4 x106 m and
G=6.67 x 10-11 Nm2kg-2.
41. A body weighs 64 N on the surface of earth. What is the gravitational force on it due to
the earth, at a height equal to half the radius of earth? Acceleration due to gravity on the
surface of earth is 10 ms-2.
42. Find the percentage decrease in the weight of the body when taken to a height of 16 km
above the surface of earth. Radius of the earth is 6400 km.
43. At what height above earth’s surface, the value of g is the same as in a mine 100 km
deep?
44. Show that the Objectives lying at the equator will fly off the surface of earth, if the speed
of rotation of the earth increases seventeen times its present value.
45. Three particles, each of mass m are placed at the vertices of an equilateral triangle
of side a. What are the gravitation field and gravitational potential at the centroid of the
triangle?
46. A space-ship is stationed on Mars. How much energy must be expended on the
spaceship to rocket it out of the solar system? Mass of the spaceship = 1000 kg. Mass
of Mars = 6.4 x1023 kg, Radius of Mars = 3395 km. Radius of the orbit of Mars =2.28 x
1011 m, G=6.67 x 10-11 Nm2kg-2.
47. What is the minimum energy required to launch a satellite of mass m kg from the earth’s
surface in a circular orbit at an altitude of 2Re?
48. Calculate the escape velocity for an atmospheric particle 1600 km above the earth’s
surface, given that the radius of the earth is 6400 km and acceleration due to gravity on
the surface of earth is 9.8 m s-2.
49. Jupiter has a mass 318 times that of earth, and its radius is 11.2 times the earth’s
radius. Estimate the escape velocity of a body from Jupiter’s surface, given that the
escape velocity from the earth’s surface is 11.2 km s-1.
50. The escape velocity of a projectile on the surface of earth is 11.2 km s-1. If a body is
projected out with twice of this speed, find the speed of the body far away from the
earth. Ignore the presence of other planets and the sun.
51. If the earth, supposed to be a uniform sphere contracts slightly so that its radius
becomes less by (1/n) than before, show that the length of the day shortens by (48/n)
hours.
52. Why do different planets have different escape velocities?
53. If a body is to be projected vertically upwards from earth’s surface to reach a height of
9R, where R is the radius of earth. What is the velocity required to do so? Given g=10
m s-2; radius of earth = 6.4x106 m.
54. A geostationary satellite is orbiting the earth at a height 6R above the surface of earth,
where R is the radius of the earth. Find the time period of another satellite at a height of
2.5R from the surface of earth in hours.
55. A rocket is fired with a speed v = 2gR near the earth’s surface and directed upwards.
Find its speed in interstellar space.
56. What is the potential energy of a body of mass m relative to the surface of earth of
radius R at (a) height h = R/2, above its surface (b) depth d = R/2 below its surface?
57. Assuming the earth to be a sphere of uniform mass density, how much would a body
weight half way down to the centre of earth if it weighed 250 N on the surface? g on the
surface of earth is 9.8 m s-2.