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Today:
- Gravity (13.1-13.4)
- Quiz 5,
So far we have considered the gravitational force and gravitational potential energy only
on/near the surface of the earth. Then the acceleration due to gravity is constant:
g = 9.8 m/s2 towards the center of the Earth
FG M1 aG
GM 1 M 2
FG (call this an inverse square law)
r2
r = separation distance, center-to-center for spherical objects
Direction:
The gravitational force is an “attractive" force each object feels a force towards the
other.
m1 feels a force due to m2 ( F1 - Force on m1 due to m2)
m2 fells a force due to m1 ( F2 - Force on m2 due to m1)
Here geometry determines direction
PES 1110 Fall 2013, Spendier Lecture 36/Page 3
Example 3:
Let’s calculate the force between 2 people standing 0.5 m apart.
Compare this to the maximum static friction that can oppose motion:
Gravity is one of the weakest forces. It is only when we have giant massive objects like
planets and suns/stars that it becomes important. So we can ignore interactions with all
masses on the surface of the Earth, apart from the Earth itself.
PES 1110 Fall 2013, Spendier Lecture 36/Page 4
What happens if we have an object of mass m between two other objects of mass M1 and
M2? We need to calculate the net Force on the object of mass m.
Example 4:
An 8.00 kg point mass and a 15 kg mass are held in place 50 cm apart. A particle of mass
m is released from a point between the two masses 20.0 cm from the 8.00 kg mass along
the line connecting the two fixed masses. Find the magnitude and direction of
acceleration of the particle.