Gravitation: Potential


Terms

Terms

Gravitational potential energy  -  Is defined by the integral:

U(r) = -    

Where is the force due to gravity and we define U(∞) = 0 . Doing the integral gives:

U(r) = -    

which reduces to U = mgh near the earth.
Gravitational potential  -  Is defined as the gravitational potential energy that a 1 kilogram mass would have at some point in space. It is given by:

Φ g = -    

which reduces to Φ g = gh near the earth.
Principle of Equivalence  -  Asserts that all types of matter fall at the same rate. That is, g for a brick is the same as g for water. This means that the inertial mass appearing in Newton's Second Law is equivalent to the gravitational mass appearing in the Universal Law of Gravitation.
Inertial mass  -  The mass m i that appears in Newton's Second Law F = m i a .
Gravitational mass  -  The mass that appears in the Universal Law of Gravitation.
Shell Theorem  -  States that any spherical mass can be treated as though all its mass were concentrated at its center for the purposes of calculating gravitational force. Also, that a spherical shell of matter exerts no gravitational force on a mass inside it.

Formulae

 
Energy for a circular orbit around the sun

E =    

Take a Study Break

SparkLife

Star Trek gets SEXY

Chris Pine and Zoe Saldana heat up the red carpet!

SparkLife

Are you afraid of relationships?

Auntie SparkNotes can help!

SparkLife

Wanna get JLaw's gorgeous glow?

Click here for simple, sexy makeup tricks!

SparkLife

Sexy starlet style

See every single look from the Met Gala!

SparkLife

Who'd be on your zombie-apocalypse crew?

We already dib'sed Genghis Khan.

Geek out!

The MindHut

Geeky Actors: Then and Now

Travel back in time!

The MindHut

Villains We Want These Actresses to Play

From super cute to super bad!

The MindHut

10 Movies Better Than Their Books

What do you think?

The MindHut

How To Look Like J-Law...

When you don't look like J-Law.

The MindHut

12 Scientific Inaccuracies in Into Darkness

What did Star Trek get wrong?

The Book

Cover image

Read What You Love, Anywhere You Like

Get Our FREE NOOK Reading Apps