Obtain the formula for the Earth's gravitational potential at distance r ( > Re) from its centre.
Answers
Answer:
Gravitational potential energy is the energy possessed or acquired by an object due to a change in its position when it is present in a gravitational field. In simple terms, it can be said that gravitational potential energy is an energy which is related to gravitational force or to gravity.
The most common example that can help you understand the concept of gravitational potential energy is if you take two pencils. One is placed at the table and the other is held above the table. Now, we can state that the pencil which is high will have greater gravitational potential energy that the pencil that is at the table.
What we can learn here is that the pencil or any object, in particular, will have the potential to do work because of its location in the gravitational field. We will learn about the topic in detail below.
Table of Content:
Gravitational Potential Energy
Formula
Derivation
Gravitational Potential
Intensity vs Potential
G.P of Point Mass
Spherical Shell
Solid Sphere
What is Gravitational Potential Energy?
When a body of mass (m) is moved from infinity to a point inside the gravitational influence of a source mass (M) without accelerating it, the amount of work done in displacing it into the source field is stored in the form of potential energy this is known as gravitational potential energy. It is represented with the symbol Ug.