A body of mass is placed on the surface of the Earth.

PHYSICS · Multi-part · CBSE · Physics · Gravitation · Gravitation

Problem

A body of mass

m

is placed on the surface of the Earth. (i) State Newton’s universal law of gravitation. (ii) Derive an expression for the weight

W

of the body in terms of its mass

m

and the acceleration due to gravity

g

at the Earth’s surface. (iii) Taking

G = 6.67 \times 10^{-11}\,\text{N m}^2 \text{kg}^{-2}

M_{E} = 6.0 \times 10^{24}\,\text{kg}

and

R_{E} = 6.4 \times 10^{6}\,\text{m}

, calculate the numerical value of

g

and hence the weight of a

2.0\,\text{kg}

mass at the Earth’s surface.