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The gravitational potential (V) at a location is the gravitational potential energy (U) at that location per unit mass: =, where m is the mass of the object. Potential energy is equal (in magnitude, but negative) to the work done by the gravitational field moving a body to its given position in space from infinity.
The gravitational potential energy is the potential energy an object has because it is within a gravitational field. The magnitude of the force between a point mass, M {\displaystyle M} , and another point mass, m {\displaystyle m} , is given by Newton's law of gravitation : [ 3 ] F = G M m r 2 {\displaystyle F={\frac {GMm}{r^{2}}}}
The potential energy, U, depends on the position of an object subjected to gravity or some other conservative force. The gravitational potential energy of an object is equal to the weight W of the object multiplied by the height h of the object's center of gravity relative to an arbitrary datum: =
Gravitational potential energy from Newtonian mechanics is defined as: [3] U = − G m 1 m 2 r , {\displaystyle U=-{\frac {Gm_{1}m_{2}}{r}},} where G is the gravitational constant , and the two masses in this case are that of the thin shells of width dr , and the contained mass within radius r as one integrates between zero and the radius of ...
Conversely, as two massive objects move towards each other, the motion accelerates under gravity causing an increase in the (positive) kinetic energy of the system and, in order to conserve the total sum of energy, the increase of the same amount in the gravitational potential energy of the object is treated as negative. [1]
There are various types of potential energy, each associated with a particular type of force. For example, the work of an elastic force is called elastic potential energy; work of the gravitational force is called gravitational potential energy; work of the Coulomb force is called electric potential energy; work of the strong nuclear force or weak nuclear force acting on the baryon charge is ...
A common misconception occurs between centre of mass and centre of gravity.They are defined in similar ways but are not exactly the same quantity. Centre of mass is the mathematical description of placing all the mass in the region considered to one position, centre of gravity is a real physical quantity, the point of a body where the gravitational force acts.
where F is the gravitational force acting between two objects, m 1 and m 2 are the masses of the objects, r is the distance between the centers of their masses, and G is the gravitational constant. The first test of Newton's law of gravitation between masses in the laboratory was the Cavendish experiment conducted by the British scientist Henry ...