Cavendish used an apparatus like this to measure the gravitational attraction between the two suspended spheres (
) and the two on the stand (
) by observing the amount of torsion (twisting) created in the fiber. Distance between the masses can be varied to check the dependence of the force on distance. Modern experiments of this type continue to explore gravity.
Test prep for ap courses
Jupiter has a mass approximately 300 times greater than Earth's and a radius about 11 times greater. How will the gravitational acceleration at the surface of Jupiter compare to that at the surface of the Earth?
A recently discovered planet has a mass twice as great as Earth's and a radius twice as large as Earth's. What will be the approximate size of its gravitational field?
4. Earth is 1.5 × 10
11 m from the Sun. Mercury is 5.7 × 10
10 m from the Sun. How does the gravitational field of the Sun on Mercury (
g
SM ) compare to the gravitational field of the Sun on Earth (
g
SE )?
Newton's universal law of gravitation: Every particle in the universe attracts every other particle with a force along a line joining them. The force is directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them. In equation form, this is
where F is the magnitude of the gravitational force.
is the gravitational constant, given by
.
Newton's law of gravitation applies universally.
Conceptual questions
Action at a distance, such as is the case for gravity, was once thought to be illogical and therefore untrue. What is the ultimate determinant of the truth in physics, and why was this action ultimately accepted?
Two friends are having a conversation. Anna says a satellite in orbit is in freefall because the satellite keeps falling toward Earth. Tom says a satellite in orbit is not in freefall because the acceleration due to gravity is not
. Who do you agree with and why?
Draw a free body diagram for a satellite in an elliptical orbit showing why its speed increases as it approaches its parent body and decreases as it moves away.
Newton's laws of motion and gravity were among the first to convincingly demonstrate the underlying simplicity and unity in nature. Many other examples have since been discovered, and we now expect to find such underlying order in complex situations. Is there proof that such order will always be found in new explorations?
the transfer of energy by a force that causes an object to be displaced; the product of the component of the force in the direction of the displacement and the magnitude of the displacement
A wave is described by the function D(x,t)=(1.6cm) sin[(1.2cm^-1(x+6.8cm/st] what are:a.Amplitude b. wavelength c. wave number d. frequency e. period f. velocity of speed.
A body is projected upward at an angle 45° 18minutes with the horizontal with an initial speed of 40km per second. In hoe many seconds will the body reach the ground then how far from the point of projection will it strike. At what angle will the horizontal will strike
Suppose hydrogen and oxygen are diffusing through air. A small amount of each is released simultaneously. How much time passes before the hydrogen is 1.00 s ahead of the oxygen? Such differences in arrival times are used as an analytical tool in gas chromatography.
the science concerned with describing the interactions of energy, matter, space, and time; it is especially interested in what fundamental mechanisms underlie every phenomenon
