Gravitation

All objects in the universe attract each other. This force of attraction between objects is
called the gravitational force. Gravitation is a weak force unless large masses are involved.

Centripetal Force

The force that causes acceleration and keeps the body moving along the circular
path is acting towards the Centre. This force is called the centripetal (centre seeking)
force.
The motion of the moon around the earth is due to the centripetal force. If there were
no such force the moon would pursue a uniform straight line motion.

Centrifugal Force

The force that is felt by an object moving in a curved path that acts outwardly away
from the center of rotation.
Centrifugal force acts in a direction which is opposite to the direction of the
centripetal force.
Some of the applications of centrifugal force:
Banking of roads.
Washing machine dryer.
Cream separator.

Universal Law of Gravitation

 Every object in the universe attracts every other object with a force which is
proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square
of the distance between them.

F = force of attraction between two the objects ‘A’ & ‘B’

M = mass of ‘A’
m = mass of ‘B’
d2 = the square of the distance between ‘A’ & ‘B’
G = is the constant of proportionality and is known as the universal gravitation
constant.
The SI unit of G is N m2 kg–2. It is obtained by substituting the units of force, distance
and mass, as given in the following equation –

G = Fd2/M x m

Henry Cavendish had calculated the value of ‘G’ as 6.673 × 10–11 N m2 kg–2.
Henry Cavendish had used a sensitive balance to find the value of ‘G.’
The force exerted by the earth on the moon is 2.02 *10^20 N
Newton's law of gravitation is called universal law of gravitation because it is
applicable to all the bodies having mass whether the bodies are big or small or
whether the bodies are terrestrial or celestial.

Importance of the Universal Law of Gravitation

The force that binds us to the earth.

The motion of the moon around the earth.
The motion of planets around the Sun.
The tides due to the moon and the Sun.
Acceleration Due to Gravity

Whenever an object falls towards the earth acceleration is involved. This acceleration
is due to the earth’s gravitational force. Therefore, this acceleration is called the
acceleration due to the gravitational force of the earth or acceleration due to gravity.

g = GM/R2

G = 6.7 × 10–11 N m2 kg-2,

Mass of the earth M = 6 × 1024 kg

Radius of the earth R = 6.4 × 106 m.

From the equation we get g value

g = 6.7 x 10-11 Nm2kg-2 x 6 x 1024 kg / (6.4 x 106 m)2

Value of acceleration due to gravity of the earth, g = 9.8 m/s-2

The earth is not a perfect sphere. The radius of the earth increases from the poles to
the equator because value of g becomes greater at the poles than at the equator.
Value of g decreases with the increase of height.
Value of g decreases with depth and become zero at the center of the earth.
Acceleration experienced by an object is independent of its mass. It means that all
objects hollow or solid, big or small, should fall at the same rate.

Mass of the Earth

Mass of the Earth M = g R2 /G
Substituting the known values of g, R and G, you can calculate the mass of the Earth
as:
M = 5.97 × 1024 kg

Mass

The Mass is a measure of the amount of matter in an object and it is a scalar

quantity and its SI unit is kilograms.
 It remains the same whether the object is on the earth the moon or even in
outer space.
The mass of an object is constant and does not change from place to place.

Weight

The earth attracts every object with a certain force and this force depends on the
mass (m) of the object and the acceleration due to the gravity (g).
The weight of an object is the force with which it is attracted towards the earth:
W=mxg
The SI unit of weight is the same as that of force that is newton (N) and weight is
a vector quantity.
Weight depends on its location because g depends on location.
Acceleration due to gravity of the moon is less than the acceleration due to gravity
of the earth because Weight of the object on the moon1/6th of its weight on the
earth.
The weight of an object is directly proportional to its mass (W ∝ m).

Apparent Weight

The weight that you feel to possess during up and down motion is not same as your
actual weight. Apparent weight is the weight of the body acquired due to the action
of gravity and other external forces acting on the body.
Different possibilities of the apparent weight of the person that arise, depending on
the motion of the lift:
Lift is moving upward with acceleration → Apparent weight is greater than the
actual weight.
Lift is moving downward with acceleration → Apparent weight is lesser than
the actual weight.
Lift is at rest → Apparent weight is equal to the actual weight.
Lift is falling down freely → Apparent weight is equal to zero.

Thrust and Pressure

The force acting on an object perpendicular to the surface is called thrust.
In SI units, the unit of thrust is newton (denoted as N).
 The force per unit area acting on an object concerned is called pressure. We can
say thrust on a unit area is pressure.
Pressure = Thrust /Area
The unit of pressure is newton per square metre or newton metre-2 (denoted as
Nm-2).
1 newton per square metre is called as 1 pascal.

Pressure in Fluids

All liquids and gases are fluids.

A solid exerts pressure on a surface due to its weight. Similarly, fluids have weight,
and they also exert pressure on the base and walls of the container in which they
are enclosed. Pressure exerted in any confined mass of fluid is transmitted
undiminished in all directions.

Buoyancy

Buoyancy is the force exerted on an object that is wholly or partly immersed in a

fluid.
All objects experience a force of buoyancy when they are immersed in a fluid.
The magnitude of this buoyant force depends on the density of the fluid.
Salt water provides more buoyant force than fresh water, because, buoyant force
depends as much on the density of fluids as on the volume displaced.

Archimedes’ Principle
Archimedes' principle states that ‘a body immersed in fluid experiences a vertical
upward buoyant force equal to the weight of the fluid it displaces’.
Archimedes principle has many applications:
It is used in designing ships and submarines.
Lactometers which are used to determine the purity of a sample of milk.
Hydrometers used for determining density of liquids.

Relative Density
 The density of a substance is defined as mass of a unit volume. The unit of density is
kilogram per metre cube.
The density of a given sample of a substance can help us to determine its purity.
Objects having density less than that of the liquid in which they are immersed float
on the surface of the liquid.
Density of the object is more than the density of the liquid in which it is immersed
then it sinks in the liquid.
The relative density of a substance is the ratio of its density to that of water
Relative density = Density of a substance/Density of water
Since the relative density is a ratio of similar quantities, it has no unit.

Pascal’s Law

Pascal’s law states that an increase in pressure at any point inside a liquid at rest is
transmitted equally and without any change, in all directions to every other point in
the liquid.
The applications of Pascal’s law are:
In automobile service stations, the vehicles are lifted upward using the
hydraulic lift which works as per Pascal’s law.
Automobile brake system works according to Pascal's Law.
The hydraulic press is used to compress the bundles of cotton or cloth
so as to occupy less space.

Surface Tension

Surface tension is the property of a liquid. The molecules of a liquid experience a

force, which contracts the extent of their surface area as much as possible, so as
to have the minimum value. The amount of force acting per unit length, on
the surface of a liquid is defined as surface tension.
Its unit is Nm–1.
Surface tension is the reason for many events we see in our daily life.
In plants, water molecules rise up due to surface tension. Xylem tissues are very
narrow vessels present in plants. Water molecules are absorbed by the roots and
these vessels help the water to rise upward due to 'capillarity action', which is
caused by the surface tension of water.
 During heavy storm, ships are damaged due surface tension of water. By pouring oil
or soap powder into the sea, sailors reduce its impact.
Water strider insect slides on the water surface easily due to the surface tension
of water
A falling drop of rain water acquires the spherical shape due to Surface Tension

Viscosity

The frictional force acting between the successive layers of the liquid
which acts in order to oppose the relative motion of the layer is known as viscous
force. Such a property of a liquid is called viscosity.