Chapter 11

Gravity, Planetary Orbits, and

the Hydrogen Atom
F 12

F 21
m2
r

r̂ 12
m1

Active Figure 11.1

The gravitational force between
two particles is attractive. The
unit vector r̂ 12 is directed from
particle
:
1 toward
:
particle 2. Note
that F 21 F 12.
 Light
Mirror source

M r
m

F I G U R E 11.2 Schematic diagram of

the Cavendish apparatus for
measuring G. As the small spheres of
mass m are attracted to the large
spheres of mass M, the rod rotates
through a small angle. A light beam
reflected from a mirror on the
rotating apparatus measures the angle
of rotation. The dashed line
represents the original position of the
rod. (In reality, the length of wire
above the mirror is much larger than
that below it.)
F I G U R E 11.3 (a) The gravi-
tational field vectors in the
vicinity of a uniform spherical
mass vary in both direction
and magnitude. (b) The gravi-
tational field vectors in a
small region near the Earth’s
surface are uniform; that is,
they all have the same
direction and magnitude. (a) (b)

r
h

RE
Fg

v
m
F I G U R E 11.4 (Example 11.1) A
satellite of mass m moving around
the Earth in a circular orbit of
radius r with constant speed v. The
only force acting on the :satellite is
the gravitational force F g . (Not
drawn to scale.)
 y
a

r2 c b
r1
x
F1 F2

Figure 11.5
Plot of an ellipse. The semimajor axis
has length a, and the semiminor axis
has length b. A focus is located at a
distance c from the center on each side
of the center.
 Sun

Center

Orbit
of Pluto

(a)
Orbit of
Comet Halley Sun

Center
(b)

F I G U R E 11.6 (a) The shape of the orbit

of Pluto, which has the highest eccentricity
(e 0.25) among the planets in the Solar
System. The Sun is located at the large
yellow dot, which is a focus of the ellipse.
Nothing physical is located at the center of
the orbit (the small dot) or the other focus
(the blue dot). (b) The shape of the orbit of
Comet Halley.
 Mp

Sun
Fg v
MS

(a)

r d r = v dt
Sun

dA

(b)

Figure 11.7

(a) The gravitational force acting on a

planet acts toward the Sun, along the
radius vector. (b) As a planet orbits
the Sun, the area swept out by the
radius vector in a time interval dt is
equal to one-half the area of the
parallelogram formed by the vectors
r and d :
:
r :
v dt .
 v

Mp

MS

F I G U R E 11.8 A planet of mass Mp

moving in a circular orbit about the
Sun. Kepler’s third law relates the
period of the orbit to the radius.
Energy

Etot (unbound)

rmax
0 r

Etot (bound)

U (r)

F I G U R E 11.9The lower total energy

line represents a bound system. The
separation distance r between the two
gravitationally bound objects never
exceeds rmax. The upper total energy
line represents an unbound system of
two objects interacting gravitationally.
The separation distance r between the
two objects can have any value.
 va a
vf = 0

ra

h
rmax
vi
rp
m
p vp
F I G U R E 11.11An object of
RE
mass m projected upward
from the Earth’s surface with
F I G U R E 11.10 (Example 11.2)
A satellite in an elliptical orbit
an initial speed vi reaches a
ME about the Earth.
maximum altitude h rmax
R E.
 Event
horizon

Black
hole

RS

F I G U R E 11.12 A black hole. The

distance R S equals the Schwarzschild
radius. Any event occurring within the
boundary of radius R S, called the event
horizon, is invisible to an outside
observer.
 F I G U R E 11.13 A binary star
system consisting of an
ordinary star on the left and a
black hole on the right. Matter
pulled from the ordinary star
forms an accretion disk
around the black hole, in
which matter is raised to very
high temperatures, resulting
in the emission of x-rays.

F I G U R E 11.14 Hubble Space

Telescope images of the galaxy
M87. The inset shows the center
of the galaxy. The wider view
shows a jet of material moving
away from the center of the
galaxy toward the upper right of
the figure at about one-tenth the
(H. Ford et al. & NASA)

speed of light. Such jets are

believed to be evidence of a
supermassive black hole at the
galaxy’s center.
 y
l

F I G U R E 11.15 A sinusoidal wave

traveling to the right with wave speed
v. Any point on the wave moves a
distance of one wavelength in a time
interval equal to the period T of the
wave.
 (K. W. Whitten, R. E. Davis, M. L. Peck, and G. G. Stanley, General Chemistry, 7th ed., Belmont, CA, Brooks/Cole, 2004)
l (nm) 400 500 600 700

Hg

Ne

(a)

l (nm) 400 500 600 700

(b)

F I G U R E 11.16 Visible spectra. (a) Line spectra produced by emission in the visible range for the elements hydrogen,
mercury, and neon. (b) The absorption spectrum for hydrogen. The dark absorption lines occur at the same wavelengths as
the emission lines for hydrogen shown in (a).

l (nm)
486.1 656.3

364.6 410.2 434.1

F I G U R E 11.17 A series of spectral

lines for atomic hydrogen. The
prominent lines labeled are part of the
Balmer series.
 –e
me

F
+e v

F I G U R E 11.18
A pictorial representation
of Bohr’s model of the hydrogen atom,
in which the electron is in a circular
orbit about the proton.
 9a 0

4a 0

–e
a0
+e

Figure 11.19
The first three circular orbits predicted
by the Bohr model for hydrogen.
 n E (eV)
∞ 0.00

5 –0.544 2
4 –0.850 4
3 –1.512
Paschen
series

2 –3.401
Balmer
series

Lyman
ENERGY

series

1 –13.606

Figure 11.20
An energy level diagram for
hydrogen. The discrete allowed
energies are plotted on the vertical
axis. Nothing is plotted on the
horizontal axis, but the horizontal
extent of the diagram is made large
enough to show allowed transitions.
Quantum numbers are given on the
left and energies (in electron volts)
on the right. Vertical arrows represent
the four lowest-energy transitions in
each of the spectral series shown. The
colored arrows for the Balmer series
indicate that this series results in
visible light.
 y

(0, 3.00) m
2.00 kg

F24
(– 4.00, 0) m

x
F64 O 4.00 kg
6.00 kg

Figure P11.4
 (Courtesy of NASA /JPL)

(a) (b)

Figure P11.9 (a) Miranda, a moon of Uranus. (b) A magnified

image of a 5 000-m cliff on Miranda

Black hole

100 m 10.0 km

Figure P11.10
M

r P

P
M

Figure P11.11
 Sun

0.570 AU x

2a

Figure P11.16 The elliptical orbit of Comet

Halley (not to scale).

220 km/s

CM

M
220 km/s
Figure P11.17

Y X

(a) (b)

Figure P11.18
By permission of John Hart FLP, and Creators Syndicate, Inc.

Figure P11.27