GRAVITY Review

#1 GRAPHS
1. Which of the following is a / / / /
correct graph for gravitational
field strength, g, versus the
distance, d?

2. Which of the following / / / /

graphs has a slope equal to
the gravitational constant, G?

/ 3. The force due to gravity between two masses (m1 and m2) is determined for several separation
distances. This data is then used to create the graph below. What is the slope of this graph?
A. G B. m1 m2 C. D. Gm1 m 2
/
#2 FORCE & FIELD
4. A rock drops from a very high altitude towards the surface of the moon. /
Which of the following is correct about the changes that occur in the
rock’s mass and weight?

/
5. Cavendish’s historic experiment is set up as shown to determine the force
between two identical sets of masses. What would be the net force of attraction
between one set of masses?
A. 1.1x108 N B. 1.9 x108 N
8
C. 2.2 x10 N D. 3.7 x108 N
6. A 75 kg astronaut stands on the surface of a planetoid with a mass of 5.8x1021 kg and a radius of 7.3x105 m. What is the
gravitational field strength at the surface?
A. 0.73 N/kg B. 1.6 N/kg C. 9.8 N/kg D. 54 N/kg

7. What is the gravitational force exerted on a 63 kg student by her 1400 kg car when their centers are 7.0 m apart? A. 8.6 x
10-11 N B. 1.9 x 10-9 N C. 1.2 x 10-7 N D. 1.8 x 103 N

8. Which of the following is another expression for gravitational field strength?

A. normal force B. force of gravity C. centripetal acceleration D. acceleration due to gravity

9. Two objects of unequal mass are dropped from the same height near the surface of the earth. Which of the following is the
same for both objects just before they hit the surface? (Ignore friction.)
A. velocity B. net force C. momentum D. kinetic energy

10. Which of the following has the same units as gravitational field strength?
A. 1/force B. 1/mass C. mass/force D. force/mass

11. The gravitational field strength of the earth at its surface is best expressed as
A. 9.8 J B. 9.8 kg x m/s2 C. 9.8 N/kg2 D. 9.8 N/kg

12. The earth pulls an apple towards its centre with a force of 4.9 N. Which of the following is correct?
A. The apple attracts the earth with a force of 4.9 N. B. The apple does not exert an attractive force on the earth.
C. The apple attracts the earth with a force that is less than 4.9 N. D. The apple attracts the earth with a force that is more than 4.9 N.

13. Which of the following is a correct statement about gravity?

A. An object falling freely has no gravitational force on it.
B. The acceleration due to gravity, g, is a universal constant.
C. The gravitational field of a body follows an inverse square law.
D. The gravitational potential energy varies with the square of distance of separation.
14. The mass of planet Neptune is 17 times more than that of the earth. It has a radius 3.8 times that of the earth. Which of the
following is the best approximation of the acceleration due to gravity on the surface of Neptune?
A. 8.3 m/s2 B. 12 m/s2 C. 44 m/s2 D. 170 m/s2

15. A planet has a larger gravitational field strength on its surface

than does the earth. Which of the following is a possible
comparison of this planet’s mass and radius with Earth’s?

#3 SATELLITES
16. A satellite is in a stable circular orbit around the earth. Another satellite in a stable circular orbit at a greater altitude must
have A. a smaller speed and a shorter period. B. a smaller speed and a longer period.
C. a greater speed and a shorter period. D. a greater speed and a longer period.

17. A satellite orbits the earth with a speed of 7.3x103 m/s. What is the distance from the center of the earth to this satellite? A.
2.3 ×105 m B. 3.8 ×106 m C. 7.5 ×106 m D. 1.3 ×107 m

18. A satellite is brought from a higher circular orbit to a lower circular orbit around the earth. Which of the following describes
what has happened to the satellite’s period?
A. The satellite’s period decreased. B. The satellite’s period increased.
C. The satellite’s period did not change. D. You cannot determine this without more information.

19. A 2500 kg satellite is placed into a circular orbit at an altitude of 1.2x10 5 m above the earth’s surface. What is the period of
this satellite?
A. 13 s B. 700 s C. 5100 s D. 5200 s

20. What is the speed of a 500 kg satellite orbiting the moon at distance of 2.5x106 m from the moon’s centre?
A. 0.89m/s B. 20 m/s C. 1.4x103 m/s D. 3.1 x 104 m/s

21. Matter is orbiting around a collapsed star of mass 3.6 ∙ 1030 kg at an orbital radius of 8.5 ∙ 104 m. What is the orbital period
of this matter?
A. 1.2 x 10 -7 s B. 1.0 x 10 -4 s C. 1.0 x 10 -2 s D. 1.0 x 101 s

22. Two satellites, S1 and S2 , are in circular orbits around a planet. Satellite S2 has
twice the mass and twice the orbital radius of satellite S1. What is the ratio of the
centripetal force on S2 to that of S1 (S2 : S1)?

A. 1:1 B. 1:2 C. 1:4 D. 1:8

23. A satellite is placed in an orbit at a distance R from the centre of the earth. It is then moved to a new orbit of distance 2R
from the earth’s centre. Which of the following is the correct ratio of the gravitational force in the new orbit to that of the old
orbit?
A. ¼ B. ½ C. 2/1 D. 4/1

24. A planet is in an orbit of radius R around a star. The gravitational

force exerted by the star on the planet is F. The star expands to 5 times
its original volume while maintaining all of its mass. What happens to
the gravitational force exerted by the star on the planet due to the
expansion of the star?

A. reduced to 1/5 F B. remains unchanged

C. increased to 5F D. increased to 25F
ARTIFICIAL GRAVITY
25. A space station of radius 90 m is rotating to simulate a gravitational field.
a) What is the period of the space station’s rotation so that a 70 kg astronaut will
experience a normal force by the outer wall equal to 60% of his weight on the surface of
the earth?
b) What would be the effect experienced by the astronaut if the space station rotated
faster so that the period of rotation was decreased? Explain your predicted effect.

#4 WORK & ENERGY

26. Which graph shows

gravitational potential energy
plotted as a function of distance
r from the centre of the earth?

27. Which of the indicated areas of the graph represent the work needed to send an object
from separation distance r to infinity?
A. A1 +A2 B. A2 C. A2 + A3 D. A3

Which of the following graphs shows the

28. A mass is launched from the surface of a large moon at high speed.
potential and kinetic energies of the mass as it moves away from the moon?

29. A 620 kg satellite orbits the earth where the acceleration due to gravity is 0.233 m/s 2. What is the kinetic energy of this
orbiting satellite?
A.  5.98 x109 J B.  2.99 x109 J C. + 2.99 x109 J D. + 5.98 x109 J

30. A 1 570 kg satellite orbits a planet in a circle of radius 5.94 x106 m. Relative to zero at infinity the gravitational potential
energy of this satellite is 9.32 x1011 J. What is the mass of the planet?
A. 5.29 x1025 kg B. 8.31x1028 kg C. 3.14 x1031 kg D. 4.93 x1034 kg

31. How much work must be done to lift a 4.00x104 kg object from Earth’s surface to a height of 3.00 ×105 m?
A. 1.12 ×1011 J B. 1.18 ×1011 J C. 2.39 ×1012 J D. 5.32 ×1013 J

32. At an altitude of 1.3x107 m above the surface of the earth an incoming meteor of mass 1.0x106 kg has a speed of 6.5x103
m/s. What would be the speed just before impact with the surface of the earth? Ignore air resistance.
A. 9.1 x 103 m/s B. 1.0 x 104 m/s C. 1.1 x 104 m/s D. 1.7 x 104 m/s

33. A 2.0 ×103 kg satellite is in a circular orbit around the earth. The satellite has a speed of 3.6 ×103 m/s at an orbital radius of
3.1×107 m. What is the total energy of this orbiting satellite?
A. 2.6 ×1010 J B. 1.3 ×1010 J C. 1.3 ×1010 J D. 3.9 ×1010 J

34. What is the change in gravitational potential energy as a 3500 kg object is raised vertically from the surface of the earth to a
height of 8.2 ×105 m?
A. 5.5 ×107 J B. 2.5 ×1010 J C. 2.8 ×1010 J D. 1.9 ×1011 J

35. A 200 kg object is released from rest at an altitude of 1.0x107 m. What is its impact speed with the earth? Assume no air
resistance.
A. 7.0x103m/s B. 8.7 x103m/s C. 1.1x103m/s D. 1.4 x103m/s
#5 WRITTEN RESPONCE

36. A stationary 1.60x103 kg vehicle is taken from the surface of the moon and placed into a
circular orbit at a height of 2.0x106 m above the surface of the moon. Its speed in this orbit is
1.15x103 m/s. How much work is required for this process?

37. What minimum energy is required to take a stationary 3.5 ×103 kg satellite from the surface of the Earth and put it into a
circular orbit with a radius of 6.88 ×106 m and an orbital speed of 7.61×103 m/s? (Ignore Earth’s rotation.)

38. A 5.0 kg rock dropped near the surface of Mars reaches a speed of 15 m/s in 4.0 s.
a) What is the acceleration due to gravity near the surface of Mars?
b) Mars has an average radius of 3.38 x106 m. What is the mass of Mars?

39. A 4.00 x103 kg object is lifted from the earth’s surface to an altitude of 3.2 x105 m. How much work does this require?

40. A 1 200 kg space probe is in a circular orbit around the Sun. The orbital radius is 7.0 x109 m.
a) What is the orbital speed of this satellite?
b) If the Sun collapsed to one-tenth its present radius without a change to its mass, the space probe’s orbital radius will
 increase. decrease. stay the same.