Gravitational Potential energy
Gravitational Potential
energy of a body on the earth Potential energy is the possessed by the body due
to its position on the earth. The potential energy of a body can be measured
taking the center of the earth as the reference. It means if the body is at the
center of the earth, its potential energy is treated as zero.
Potential energy of the
body is also treated as negative and it is a symbolic way of identifying that
the body is associated with the system. We need to do some work it getting a
body to a particular position on the earth. After the work is done, the energy
used in doing the work cannot disappear and it will convert into some other
form of energy. This is conservation of energy and energy is neither created
and nor created. It just converts from one form to other. Thus the work done by
us in putting the body at a certain place is converted into potential energy
and it is called gravitational potential energy and it is by default treated as
negative.
We can measure the work
done in pulling the body to a certain mass by a small distance using the
formula that the work done is the product of force and displacement. Force
between the body and the mass of the earth can be measured using Newton’s law
of gravitation.
In this way, we are
going to get the work done in displacing the body only by a small value and we
need to know the work done in producing the total displacement. This can be
done by integrating the first equation. This total work done is stored in the
form of gravitational potential energy.
As we move far away
from the surface of the earth, potential energy starts increasing. At infinite
height, potential energy becomes zero. Thus potential energy of a body
associated with the earth is negative and at the best, at infinity, it will
become zero and it cannot turn into a positive value.
Change in Potential Energy
Change in Potential Energy
When the body is on the surface of the earth, it will possess some potential energy. When it is moved to a certain height, its potential energy increases. The work done in this process is nothing but the change in the potential energies of final to initial. A sample case is taken and derived the equation for the work done as shown below.
Kinetic energy
Everybody revolving
around the earth in a specific orbit will have some velocity and that velocity
is called orbital velocity. As the body has orbital velocity, it consists of
kinetic energy. We can measure the kinetic energy of the body using he
conventional kinetic energy.
It could be noticed
that the kinetic energy is positive and its magnitude is double the value of
gravitational potential energy.
Total energy
We can find the total
mechanical energy of a body as the sum of potential and kinetic energies. By
adding both the values, it can be found that the total energy of the body is
also has a magnitude of potential energy.
Gravitational Force of Attraction and Newton's Law
Resultant Gravitational Force and Neutral Point
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