Gravitation

Home Slide

Science Std IX 1
Introduction
An object dropped from a height
always falls towards the earth.
Planets go around the sun, moon
goes around the earth.
There must be a force acting on
the object, planets and moon.
This force is called gravitational
force.
Science Std IX 2
Observation

<
Before the thread is released,stone moves in a
circular path with a certain speed, and
changes direction at every point.The change
in direction involves change in velocity or
acceleration.The force that keeps the body
moving along the circular path is acting
Stone is released towards the center. This force is called
centripetal force. In absence of this force the
stone flies off along a straight line. This
straight line will be a tangent to the circular
path.
Science Std IX 3
Gravitational Force
All objects in the universe
attract each other. This force of
attraction between objects is
called the gravitational force.

Science Std IX 4
Universal Law of
Gravitation
Every object in the universe attracts
every other object with a force which
is proportional to the product of
their masses and inversely
proportional to the square of the
distance between them.

Science Std IX 5
Universal Law of
Gravitation

A B

> <
d

M
F
G m
=
d2
Science Std IX 6
Universal Law of Gravitation
A B
M
> <
d F = G m
M m
d2 d
Let two objects A and B of masses M and m lie at a distance
from each other. Let force of attraction between then be F.
According to the universal law of gravitation, the force
between two objects is directly proportional to the product of
their masses. F M x m. And the force between the two
objects is inversely proportional to the square of the distance
between them. F 1 / d2. Combining the two equations we
get..F M x m / d2
Or.. M Where G is constant of proportionality
and is F G m called the universal gravitational
constant. =
By multiplying
d 2 crosswise we get F x d 2
= GM x m .
Science Std IX 7
Universal Law of Gravitation
A B
> <
d
M m

M F d2
F = G m
or G= M x
d2 m
SI unit for G is N m2 kg-2

Accepted value of G is 6.673 x 10 -11

N m2 kg-2 . This was found out by
Henry Cavendish.
Science Std IX 8
Importance of the Universal
Law of Gravitation

The force that binds us to the

earth.
The motion of moon around the
earth.
The motion of earth round the
sun.
The tides due to the moon and
the sun.
Science Std IX 9
Free Fall
Whenever the objects fall towards the
earth under the gravitational force
alone, we say that objects are in a
free fall.
Whenever object falls towards the
earth,there is acceleration due to
gravitational force, and is denoted by
g.
Unit of g is same as that of
acceleration i.e. m s-2.
Science Std IX 10
 Free Fall.
Take a stone,throw it upwards, it reaches a certain
height and starts falling down.
Let its mass be m. g is acceleration involved due to
gravitational force. So the magnitude of
gravitational force F will be
F=mg
m g = G ( M x m / d2 ) or g = G ( M / d2 ) where M
is the mass of the earth and d is the distance between
the object and the earth.
Science Std IX 11
Object on or Near the Surface
of Earth
Let an object be near or on the surface of the
earth.The distance d now will be equal to R
the radius of the earth. Thus for objects on or
near the earths surface.
mg = g (M x m / R2) i.e. g = G ( M / R2 )
Earth is not a perfect sphere. As the radius of
earth increases from poles to the equator, the
value of g becomes greater at the poles than
at the equator.
Science Std IX 12
To Calculate the Value of G

G = 6.7 x 1011 N m2 kg2

M, the mass of the earth = 6 x 10 24 kg.
Radius of earth R = 6.4 x 106 m.
g = G ( M / R2 )
6.7 x 10-11 N m2 kg-2 x 6 x 1024 kg
=
( 6.4 x 106 m)2
g = 9.8 m s
-2

Science Std IX 13
Motion of Objects Under the
Influence of Gravitational
Force of the Earth
An object experiences acceleration
during free fall which is independent
of its mass. This means that all
objects hollow or solid, big or
small,fall at the same rate. As g is
constant near earth all equations for
the uniformly accelerated motion of
objects become valid with
acceleration a replaced with g.
Science Std IX 14
Equations : Replace a With g

v = u + at
s = ut + at2
v2 = u2 + 2 as

v = u + gt
s = ut + gt2
v2 = u2 + 2 gs
Science Std IX 15
 Mass and Weight

The mass of an object is the measure of

its inertia.It remains the same whether
the object s on earth,the moon or in
outer space.
Thus the mass of an object is constant
and does not change from place to place.
Science Std IX 16
 Mass and Weight

The earth attracts every object with a certain force and

this force depends on the mass of the object m and
acceleration due to gravity g. The weight of an object
is is the force with which it is attracted towards the
earth.
F = m x a i.e. F = m x g and this force of attraction
is known as weight of the object and is denoted by
W. So W = m x g SI unit of weight is the same as
that of force and is newton N.
Science Std IX 17
 Mass and Weight

The value of g is constant at a given place and hence

the weight of an object is directly proportional to its
mass. So W m . Hence at a given place the
weight of an object is taken as measure of its mass.

Science Std IX 18
Weight of an Object on Moon

The weight on an object on moon is the force with

which the moon attracts that object.
Let mass of an object be m, let its weight on moon be
Wm. Let the mass of the moon be Wm and its radius be
Rm.
Mm x
Wm m
G
=
( Rm )2
Science Std IX 19
Weights of an Object on Earth
and Moon

Celestial Mass in kg Radium in m

body
Earth 5.98 x 1024 6.37 x 106
Moon 7.36 x 1022 1.74 x 106
M x m Mm x
We = G Wm
R 2
G m
=
Earth ( Rm )2

Science Moon
Std IX 20
Weights of an Object on Earth
and Moon
M x m Mm x m
We = G Wm = G
R2 ( Rm )2

Earth Moon

Weight of object on moon is

Wm 2.431 x 10 10
1/6th of its weight on moon
=
We 1.474 x 1011 but mass of that object
remains the same on earth
or moon.
Wm Wm 1
= 0.165 =
We We 6
Science Std IX 21
Thrust and Pressure
Weight is the force acting vertically
downwards and is perpendicular to
the surface of the object touching
the earth. This is called thrust.
If you are standing your weight
becomes the trust acting on the area
of your feet and if you lie down, then
same force acts on the area of your
body that is touching earth. The trust
on unit area is called pressure.
Science Std IX 22
Thrust and Pressure

Pressure = thrust / area.

SI unit for pressure is N / m2
and in honour of scientist
Pascal is is called as pascal
to be denoted by Pa.

Science Std IX 23
Pressure in Fluids

Pressure exerted by any

confined mass of fluid is
transmitted UNDIMINISHED
in all directions.

Science Std IX 24
 Buoyancy

Glass bottle with closed mouth floats on

water.But when it is pushed into the
water, we feel an upward thrust. Water
exerts an upward force on the bottle.
When the bottle is immersed the upward
force exerted by bottle is greater than the
weight of the bottle and hence the bottle
floats. Science Std IX 25
 Buoyancy

To keep the bottle just completely

immersed, the upward force on the bottle
due to water must be balanced. This can
be achieved by an externally applied force
acting downwards. This force must at
least be equal to the difference between
the upward force and the weight of the
bottle. Science Std IX 26
 Buoyancy

The upward force exerted by

water on the bottle is known as
upthrust or buoyant force.The
magnitude of this buoyant force
depends on the density of the
fluid.

Science Std IX 27
Why Objects Float or Sink when
placed on the Surface of Water ?

Place a nail on the surface of water, it

sinks.Gravitational force on the nail pulls
it down, while upthrust of water on nail
pushes it upwards. Since downward force
acting on nail is greater than upthrust, it
sinks.

Science Std IX 28
Why Objects Float or Sink when
placed on the Surface of Water ?

Place a cork on the surface of water, it

floats.Gravitational force on the cork pulls
it down, while upthrust of water on cork
pushes it upwards. Since downward force
acting on cork is lesser than upthrust, it
floats. WHY ?
Science Std IX 29
 Answer to Why ?
Cork floats while nail sinks. This happens due to the difference
in their densities. The density of a substance is defined as the
mass per unit volume.The density of cork is less than the
density of water.This means that the upthrust of water on cork
is greater than the weight of the cork. So it floats. The density
of nail is more than the density of water.This means that the
upthrust of water on nail is less than the weight of the cork. So
it sinks.
Therefore objects of density less than that of a liquid float on
that liquid and objects of density greater than that of a liquid
will sink in that liquid.
Nail will float over mercury.
Science Std IX 30
Archimedes Principle

When a body is immersed fully or

partially in a fluid, it experiences
an upward force that is equal to
the weight of the fluid displaced
by it.

Science Std IX 31
Relative Density
Density is mass of a unit volume.
Units : kg m-3. Density of a
substance under specified
conditions remains the same and
hence density becomes
characteristic property of a
substance. Its can be used to
determine the purity of that
substance. Relative density of a
substance is the ratio of its
density to that of water.
Science Std IX 32
Gravitation
End Slide

Science Std IX 33