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GRAVITATIONAL FIELDS

Gravitational
Fields

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GRAVITATIONAL FIELDS

Largest objects in Solar System

Name Orbits Orbital Orbital Diameter Mass(kg)

radius Period (km)
3
(10 km)
30
Sun 1,394,000 1.99 ×10
27
Jupiter Sun 778,000 11.86 yrs 142,840 1.90 ×10
26
Saturn Sun 1,429,000 29.46 yrs 120,540 5.69 ×10
25
Uranus Sun 2,870,990 84 yrs 51,120 8.69 × 10 *
26
Neptune Sun 4,504,300 164.78 yrs 49,530 1.02 × 10 *
24
Earth Sun 149,600 1 yr 12,760 5.98 ×10
24
Venus Sun 108,200 224.5 days 12,100 4.87 ×10
23
Mars Sun 227,940 1.88 yrs 6,800 6.42 ×10
23
Ganymede Jupiter 1,070 7.16 days 5,260 1.48 ×10
23
Titan Saturn 1,222 15.95 days 5,150 1.35 ×10
23
Mercury Sun 57,910 88 days 4,880 3.30 ×10
23
Callisto Jupiter 1,883 16.69 days 4,800 1.08 ×10
22
Io Jupiter 422 1.77 days 3,630 8.93 ×10
22
Moon Earth 384 27.3 days 3,480 7.35 ×10
22
Europa Jupiter 671 3,55 days 3,140 4.80 ×10
22
Triton Neptune 355 5.88 days 2,710 2.15 ×10
22
Pluto Sun 5,913,520 248.5 yrs 2,390 1.32 ×10
21
Titania Uranus 436 8.71 days 1,610 3.5 ×10
21
Oberon Uranus 583 13.46 days 1,550 3.0 ×10
21
Rhea Saturn 527 4.52 days 1,530 2.3 ×10
21
Iapetus Saturn 3,561 79.33 days 1,460 1.6 ×10
21
Charon Pluto 19.6 6.39 days 1,168 1.9 ×10
21
Umbriel Uranus 266 4,14 days 1,190 1.2 ×10
21
Ariel Uranus 191 2.52 days 1,160 1.3 ×10
21
Dione Saturn 377 2.74 days 1,120 1.1 ×10
21
Tethys Saturn 295 1.89 days 1,060 0.6 ×10
20
Ceres Sun 415,000 4.6 yrs 950 8.7 ×10

฀ Note: Neptune is slightly denser than

Uranus. For further information:
http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/planetfact.html

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GRAVITATIONAL FIELDS

Solar system data obtained from NASA

g/g
Planet Mass / kg Radius Density g Earth
-3 -2
/m / kg m / ms
23 6 3
Mercury 3.30 × 10 2.44 × 10 5.42 × 10 3.70 0.38
24 6 3
Venus 4.87 × 10 6.05 × 10 5.25 × 10 8.87 0.90
24 6 3
Earth 5.97 × 10 6.37 × 10 5.51 × 10 9.81 1.00
23 6 3
Mars 6.42 × 10 3.39 × 10 3.93 × 10 3.73 0.38
27 7 3
Jupiter 1.90 × 10 6.99 × 10 1.33 × 10 25.94 2.64
26 7 2
Saturn 5.68 × 10 5.82 × 10 6.88 × 10 11.18 1.14
25 7 3
Uranus 8.68 × 10 2.54 × 10 1.26 × 10 8.97 0.91
26 7 3
Neptune 1.02 × 10 2.64 × 10 1.32 × 10 9.76 1.00
22 6 3
Pluto 1.25 × 10 1.14 × 10 2.03 × 10 0.64 0.07
22 6 3
Moon 7.35 × 10 1.74 × 10 3.33 × 10 1.62 0.17

-2 g/g
Asteroid Mass / kg Radius / m Density / kg g / ms Earth

m -3
20 5 3
Ceres 8.70 × 10 4.73 × 10 1.96 × 10 0.26 0.026
20 5 3
Pallas 3.18 × 10 2.63 × 10 4.18 × 10 0.31 0.031
19 5 3
Juno 2.00 × 10 1.20 × 10 2.76 × 10 0.09 0.009
20 5 3
Vesta 3.00 × 10 2.65 × 10 3.85 × 10 0.28 0.029
18 4 3
Chiron 4.00 × 10 9.00 × 10 1.31 × 10 0.03 0.003

You may assume the following values for the introductory problems unless specified to the contrary in
the question.
24
• Earth’s mass, ME = 6.0 × 10 kg
6
• Earth's radius, RE = 6.4 × 10 m
-2
• Gravitational acceleration on the Earth's surface, gE = 9.8 ms
-11 2 -1
• Universal gravitational constant, G = 6.7 × 10 Nm kg

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GRAVITATIONAL FIELDS

Gravitational fields

1 Use values in table below to calculate the escape speed for an object launched from (a) Earth’s
surface, (b) Mars’ surface, (c) Sun's surface, (d) inner solar system (say from the Earth’s orbit)

Object Mass/kg Radius/m Orbital radius/m

30 8
Sun 2.0 × 10 7.0×10 n.a.
24 6 9
Earth 6.0 × 10 6.4×10 1.50 × 10
23 6 9
Mars 6.6 × 10 3.4×10 2.28 × 10

(a) ________________________________________________________________________________

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(b) ________________________________________________________________________________

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(c) ________________________________________________________________________________

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(d) ________________________________________________________________________________

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2 (a) What is the Moon’s escape speed as a whole number fraction of the Earth’s? Take mass of Moon
to be 1/81 of Earth’s mass and Moon’s radius to be 1/4 Earth’s radius. Don't use a calculator, use
ratios and cancel down.

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(b) Use this ratio, together with Earth's escape speed calculated in question 1 (a) to calculate a value
for the Moon's escape speed in metres per second.

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3 How much work must be done to launch a rocket from the Moon’s surface so that it escapes the
22
Moon’s gravity. Take the mass of the rocket to be 5000 kg, the Moon's mass to be 7.35 x 10 kg,
6
and its radius to be 1.74 x 10 m.

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4 (a) Derive the relationship between the gravitational field strength, g, on the surface of a planet
and its radius, R, and its density, p.

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(b) Suppose that you are able to jump vertically 0.5 m on Earth. What height might you be expected to
jump on a planet which has a density that is 4/5 that of the Earth, but whose radius is one half that
of the Earth? As a matter of interest, Mars is such a planet. Roll on the Mars Olympics!
Think of the jump as a transfer of energy from chemical energy in your muscles to g.p.e. :
you wouldn’t have any more energy available to you on the other planet.

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GRAVITATIONAL FIELDS

5 (a) Derive a relationship between the radius, r, of a spherical body, its density, p, and the
escape velocity, v, from the body.

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(b) What is the radius of a body from which you could launch yourself into space by jumping vertically?
You will have to assume, or (better) calculate, the speed at which you leave the ground when you
make such a jump. The previous problem (number 4) may be of help. Take the density of the matter
3
from which the body is made to be 2500 kgm .

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(c) What would be the minimum radius of a spherical body (made of the same stuff) if you could throw
a ball from it at with a velocity equal to the escape velocity for the body? You will have to assume,
or better, calculate the maximum speed with which you can throw a ball. Think in terms of how high
you can throw it on Earth: how fast must the ball be travelling when it leaves your hand to reach
this height?

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6 (a) With what minimum speed will a meteoroid enter the Earth’s atmosphere?

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(b) What happens to its g.p.e. and k.e as it falls to Earth:

(i) when it is still above the atmosphere

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GRAVITATIONAL FIELDS

(ii) as it travels through the atmosphere?

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7 The diagram shows the orbit of a satellite about the Earth. P is perigee (point in orbit closest to Earth), A is
apogee (point in orbit furthest from Earth) and B is a point on the orbit halfway between P and A.

(a) At which position in the does the satellite experience the greatest gravitational pull from the Earth?

P
B

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(b) At which position does it have (i) maximum, (ii) minimum potential energy and where does it have
(iii) maximum, (iv) minimum kinetic energy?

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(c) What can be said about the speed of the satellite at B compared to that at P and at A?

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8 At what point in an elliptical orbit about the Earth should a rocket fire its engines to gain maximum
k.e.: at apogee or perigee. Assume that the engine burn lasts the same time in either position.

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GRAVITATIONAL FIELDS

9 The first man-made device to escape the solar system was Pioneer 10. It was launched from Earth on
March 2, 1972, from Cape Kennedy with a speed of only 15 km/s. At the time it was the fastest
spacecraft ever to leave Earth. It was the first spacecraft to travel through the asteroid belt, the first
to visit Jupiter, and the first to use a planet's gravity to change course and reach solar-system escape
velocity.

Escape was accomplished by directing the probe into the path of oncoming Jupiter. It was whipped
about by Jupiter's great gravitational field, picking up speed in the process—similar to the increase in
the speed of a ball encountering an oncoming bat when it departs from the bat. Its speed of
departure from Jupiter was increased enough to exceed the Sun's escape speed at the distance of
Jupiter. Pioneer 10 passed beyond the orbit of Pluto in 1984.

(i) What is the escape speed from the Solar System for an object at a distance equal to Jupiter’s
orbit? Jupiter lies at 5.2 AU.

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th
On April 28 ,2001 Pioneer was sent a radio signal from its base station here on Earth. When
Pioneer received this it sent back a weak radio signal. The entire exchange, from the moment the
signal was sent from Earth to the moment when the return signal from Pioneer was received back
at the base took 22 hours.

(i) How far away from Earth was Pioneer at this time?

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(ii) Calculate the average speed at which Pioneer 10 has traveled in its journey.

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10 Which requires more fuel: a rocket travelling from Moon to Earth or one travelling from Earth to
Moon? Explain your answer.

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11 (i) Prove that escape velocity for an object in orbit about a planet is always √2 greater than its
orbital velocity.

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(ii) Is the Earth’s orbital velocity √2 less than the escape velocity of the solar system from a point on
the Earth's orbit? Support you answer with relevant calculations. Earth’s orbital radius is 1 A.U. and
its orbital period is 365.25 days.

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12 In what way is a contour map like a diagram of equipotential surfaces?

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GRAVITATIONAL FIELDS

13 (i) Plot a graph of gravitational potential energy, U, per unit mass for the Earth at intervals of RE to
a distance of 6RE. Use the following scale for your graph: RE = 2cm and 10MJ/kg = 2 cm.
GME 24 6
g.p.e. in the Earth’s radial field given by U  R where ME = 6 × 10 kg, RE = 6.4 × 10 m.
E

Calculate U and fill in the table below.

G.P.E
Distance from .
centre of earth / Joules
/ metres
6
6.4×10
6
12.8 × 10
6
19.2 × 10
6
25.6 × 10
6
32.0 × 10
6
38.4 × 10

10

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(ii) Use the graph to determine the distance of equipotential surfaces with energy intervals of
10 MJ/kg.

Energy intervals Distance from centre of

/MJ Earth
/m

10

20

30

40

50

60

Now draw a scale diagram to show these equipotential surfaces around the Earth on the grid
below. The Earth is represented by the circle in the centre. The diagram should be a series of
concentric circles of different radii. Label each equipotential with its energy.

11

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14 On Earth a fit man can jump vertically from rest a distance equal to one third of his height. In
other words, he can raise his centre of gravity by this distance.

(i) How high could this man jump on the Moon?

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(ii) What is the largest radius of a planet or asteroid (assumed to be spherical) which this man
can literally jump off? Take the density of the planet / asteroid to be the same as that of Earth.

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12

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Answers to gravitational fields

1 (a) vEarth = 11.2 km/s, (b) vMars = 5.1 km/s, (c) vSun = 617.5 km/s, (d) vSolar System = 42.2 km/s
2 (a) vMoon/vEarth = √(1/20), (b) 2500
10
m/s 3 1.41 x 10 Joules
4 (a) g = (4/3R p), (b) You can jump 1.25 m vertically on the smaller planet.
2 2
5 (a) v = √8/3G p, (b) Use mgh = 1/2 mv to calculate the speed with which you leave the ground on
Earth. This will be the same on the asteroid. Using this take-off speed as escape speed, the maximum
diameter of the body that you can jump off is 2620 metres. (c) Assume that you can throw a ball 10 m
vertically on Earth. This gives an initial speed of 14 m/s. The radius of the asteroid with an escape
speed of 14 m/s is 11.85 km.
6 (a) minimum entry speed of a meteoroid is the same as the Earth's escape velocity, or 11.2 km/s, (b)
(i) while still outside the Earth's atmosphere, the g.p.e. of the meteoroid decreases, and its k.e.
increases, (ii) As it travels through the atmosphere, its g.p.e decreases and so does its k.e. (g.p.e
becomes internal energy as meteoroid heats up due to adiabatic heating-not friction). A small
meteoroid would reach the ground at terminal velocity, say 10 m/s

13

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