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THE IB SAYS
THE IB SAYS
Essential idea: The Newtonian idea of gravitational force acting between two spherical bodies and the laws of mechanics create a model that can be used to calculate the motion of planets.
Understandings: Newton’s law of gravitation
Applications and skills: Describing the relationship between gravitational force and centripetal force
Guidance: Newton’s law of gravitation should be extended to spherical masses of uniform density by assuming that their mass is concentrated at their centre
Data booklet equations:
My vodcast
My vodcast
Newton's Universal Law of Gravitation
Newton's Universal Law of Gravitation
Every particle of mass in the universe is attracted to every other particle of mass in the universe with a force proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to their separation squared. Isaac Newton, building on the work of earlier scientists and philosophers, was the first to realise that this was true throughout all the universe and applied equally to apples and satellites. Newton's law doesn't explain gravity, but it was able to make accurate predictions, at least when the value of 'Big G', the universal gravitational constant had been determined.
Additional videos
Additional videos
Excellent overview - covers all you need to know for this unit on gravity
Alternative coverage - good explanations
Brian Cox special
Brian Cox special
Brian Cox recreates a famous experiment in a huge vacuum chamber
Brian Cox looks at gravity ... and life
Resources from textbooks
Resources from textbooks
Oxford Physics: pages 260 - 261
Hamper HL (2014): pages 132 - 134
Relevant questions from Dot Point Physics (6 Fields and forces)
Relevant questions from Dot Point Physics (6 Fields and forces)
pages 275 - 278
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