3.
5 Gravitational Force
• Central forces like gravity have the form F = f (r)r̂, with r the distance between the
bodies exerting equal and opposite forces on one another.
• Central forces are conservative. To prove this, show that r ⇥ f (r)r̂ = 0 (see Arfken, 7th
edition, Example 3.5.6). First,
r x y z
r̂ = = x̂ + ŷ + ẑ,
r r r r
where r = (x2 + y 2 + z 2 )1/2 . Thus, we have
xf (r) yf (r) zf (r)
F = x̂ + ŷ + ẑ.
r r r
@r 1 1 x @r y @r z
Note that = 2 2 2 1/2
(2x) = , and similarly = and = . Finally,
@x 2 (x + y + z ) r @y r @z r
@g(r) dg @r
note that for any function g(r), we can write = by the chain rule, and
@x dr @x
similarly for x and y derivatives. Now let’s calculate the x-component of the curl – the
other components are calculated by just cycling through x, y and z:
@Fz @Fy
[r ⇥ f (r)r̂]x =
@y @z
✓ ◆ ✓ ◆ ✓ ◆ ✓ ◆
@ zf (r) @ yf (r) d f (r) @r d f (r) @r
= =z y
@y r @z r dr r @y dr r @z
✓ ◆ ✓ ◆ ✓ ◆ ✓ ◆
d f (r) y d f (r) z d f (r) yz d f (r) yz
=z y = = 0.
dr r r dr r r dr r r dr r r
And similarly for the y- and z-components. So r ⇥ F = 0 which implies that all central
forces are conservative.
• Since central forces are conservative, we can use the concept of potential energy when
dealing with central forces (such as gravity).
• Let’s now revisit the gravitational force and obtain the corresponding expression for the
potential energy:
Z Z ✓ ◆
GM m
U (r) = F · dr = r̂ · (drr̂ + rd✓✓ˆ + r sin ✓d ˆ)
r2
Z (66)
GM m GM m
= dr = + C,
r2 r
where C is an integration constant.
• It doesn’t really matter what we choose for the constant C because it is the change in U
that matters when we solve problems using mechanical energy conservation K = U.
However, the convention is to set C = 0. This means that U ! 0 as r ! 1. Thus, we
finally have
GM m GM m
U (r) = if F = r̂. (67)
r r2
In words, this convention implies that the potential energy is equal to negative the work
done on a point mass m as it moves from r = 1 to a distance r from the point mass M .
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• You can verify that
✓ ◆
dUr 1 dU✓ ˆ 1 dU ˆ
F = rU = r̂ + ✓+ .
dr r d✓ r sin ✓ d
• Now it is also useful to define some other quantities. The gravitational field of a point
GM F
mass M is given by g(r) = 2
r̂ = .
r m
GM
• The gravitational potential associated with a point mass M is given by (r) = =
r
U (r)
.
m
• Unlike the gravitational force and potential energy, the gravitational field and potential
do not depend on m, so they exist whether or not another mass m happens to be present.
• Potential energy and potential are often useful in calculations because they are scalar
fields, which are easier to work with than vector fields.
• Note that sometimes potential energy is called potential...but they are clearly di↵erent
quantities.
Exercise:
Draw the energy diagram for a system consisting of a point mass M and a “test mass” m ⌧ M .
3.5.1 Gravitational Field of a Mass Distribution
• Although it seems that we have only studied the simplest possible problem of the gravi-
tational field and potential of a point mass, the results we obtained are powerful because
of the principle of superposition:
? To get the net gravitational force due to a distribution of point masses, just vectorially
add up the gravitational forces from all the individual point masses F = F1 + F2 +
. . . + FN .
? Same thing for the gravitational field since g = F /m.
? Getting the potential is even easier because then it’s just a scalar addition =
1 + 2 + . . . + N . We can do this because
Z Z Z Z
= g · dr = g1 · dr g2 · dr . . . gn · dr = 1 + 2 + . . . + n.
? However, getting the potential energy of a distribution of point masses is trickier.
That is because it is equal to negative the work done by gravity to bring them
from infinity to their current configuration, one at a time. For the first point
mass,
Z no work is required, but for the N th point mass mN one must do work
r
mN (g1 + g2 + . . . gN 1) · dr 0 .
1
? For a continuous mass distribution, the same rules apply but one must inte-
grate over the the mass distribution. You will be seeing that next year, but in the
meantime, we can analyze one simple but important case:
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Example: Newton’s shell theorem
1) You may already know that the gravitational field outside of any spherically sym-
metric distribution centred at P is the same as the gravitational field of a point mass
located at P.
? Any spherically symmetric distribution can be decomposed into concentric uni-
form shells of di↵erent densities, so it suffices to consider a thin spherical shell
of mass M and radius R.
GM
? We know that g = r̂ must be true very far from the shell, because then
r2
the shell is so “zoomed out” (r R) that it is essentially a point.
? Closer to the shell it is not so obvious, but one can argue that the tangential
forces of the mass elements cancel by symmetry.
? The radial forces due to the back and front portions average out — we won’t
prove it but think about it conceptually to try to understand why this is so.
2) Inside a spherical shell, the potential is constant (independent of position), which
means that the gravitational field g = r is zero. So there is no gravitational
force inside a uniform spherical shell!
? Again, the tangential components cancel due to symmetry.
? The radial components also cancel out this time! Think about why.
Proof of Newton’s shell theorem (Morin §5.4.1):
? The easiest proof involves deriving an expression for the potential energy and then
taking the gradient to get the force — remember, it’s much easier to integrate over
potential energy (a scalar) than force (a vector).
? To do this, we need a little geometry from Fig. 5, which shows a thin shell of radius
R, and a point P situated a distance r from the center of the shell.
Figure 5: Geometry for proving Newton’s shell theorem (Figs. 5.7 and 5.8 of Morin).
? Let’s find the potential at P due to the ring at distance l, and then integrate over
all the rings that make up the shell.
? Note that l2 = (R sin ✓)2 + (r R cos ✓)2 .
? Simplifying, we obtain l2 = R2 + r2 2Rr cos ✓, which means we have just proven
the law of cosines.
? The width of the ring is Rd✓ and its circumference is 2⇡R sin ✓.
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? The mass of the ring is giving by the area of the ring times the mass per unit area
, so we obtain dM = (Rd✓)(2⇡R sin ✓).
M
? Note that since the shell is uniform = .
4⇡R2
GdM G (Rd✓)(2⇡R sin ✓)
? The potential at P is = .
l l
? Now integrate over all the rings:
Z ⇡
2⇡ GR2 sin ✓ d✓
(r) = .
0 (R2 + r 2 2Rr cos ✓)1/2
1/2 1
? To solve this, let w = R2 + r2 2Rr cos ✓ , then dw = ( 2Rr)( sin ✓d✓),
2w
wdw
which implies sin ✓d✓ = .
Rr
? Hence, the integral becomes
Z ✓=⇡
2⇡ GR2⇢ wdw
(r) =
✓=0 Rr ⇢
w
Z
2⇡ GR ✓=⇡ 2⇡ GR 1/2 ⇡
= dw = R2 + r2 2Rr cos ✓
r ✓=0 r 0
2⇡ GR h 2 1/2 1/2
i
= R + r2 + 2Rr R2 + r2 2Rr
r (
2⇡ GR [(r + R) (r R)] if r R;
=
r [(r + R) (R r)] if r < R.
? Note that there are two cases that must be solved separately because a square root
is, by definition, positive.
2⇡ GR GM GM
? If r R, we obtain (r) = 2R = , so g = r = r̂, as
r r r2
M
expected, where we have made use of the relation = .
4⇡R2
2⇡ GR GM
? If r < R, we obtain (r) = 2r = = const, so g = r = 0
r R
everywhere inside the shell.
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