MEDIUM
AS and A Level
IMPORTANT
Earn 100

Jupiter's mass is 320 times that of the Earth and its radius is 11.2 times the Earth's. The Earth's surface gravitational field strength is9.81 Nkg-1. Calculate the gravitational field strength close to the surface of Jupiter.

Important Questions on Gravitational Fields

EASY
AS and A Level
IMPORTANT
The Moon and the Sun both contribute to the tides on the Earth's oceans. Which has a bigger pull on each kilogram of seawater, the Sun or the Moon? 
MEDIUM
AS and A Level
IMPORTANT

Astrologers believe that the planets exert an  influence on us, particularly at the moment of birth. (They don't necessarily believe that this is an effect of gravity!) Calculate the gravitational force on a 4.0 kg baby caused by Mars when the planet is at its closest to the Earth at a distance of 100 000 000 km. Mars has a mass  6.4×1023kg.

EASY
AS and A Level
IMPORTANT

Astrologers believe that the planets exert an influence on us, particularly at the moment of birth. (They don't necessarily believe that this is an effect of gravity!). Calculate the gravitational force on the same baby due to its 50 kg mother at a distance of 0.40m.

MEDIUM
AS and A Level
IMPORTANT
Determine the gravitational potential at the surface of the Earth.
EASY
AS and A Level
IMPORTANT
Determine the gravitational potential at the surface of the Moon.
EASY
AS and A Level
IMPORTANT
Which has the shallower 'potential well', the Earth or the Moon? Draw a diagram to compare the 'potential wells' of the Earth and the Moon.
EASY
AS and A Level
IMPORTANT
Use your diagram to explain why a large rocket is needed to lift a spacecraft from the surface of the Earth but a much smaller rocket can be used to launch from the Moon's surface. 
EASY
AS and A Level
IMPORTANT

During the manned Moon landings in the 1960s, the command module orbited the Moon in an elliptic orbit with a maximum height of 310 km above the surface of the Moon, whilst the lunar module descended and landed on the Moon's surface. Explain why the potential energy of the command module varied during its orbit.