10 questions🇬🇧English
🛰️ Gravitational Fields & Orbits – A-level
Physics · A-level — practise Newton's law of gravitation, field strength, potential, escape velocity and satellite orbits.
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Questions
The distance between the centres of two masses is doubled. What happens to the gravitational force between them?
It falls to one half
It doubles
It falls to one quarter
It falls to one eighth
20s
What is the SI unit of gravitational potential?
N kg⁻¹
J
J kg⁻¹
N m⁻²
20s
Approximately what is the orbital period of a geostationary satellite?
About 27 days
About 90 minutes
About 12 hours
About 24 hours
20s
A moon's orbital radius is increased by a factor of 4. By what factor does its orbital period increase?
16
4
2
8
30s
At what angle do gravitational field lines cross equipotential surfaces?
180°
0°
90°
45°
20s
A planet has twice the mass and twice the radius of Earth. Taking g = 9.8 N kg⁻¹ on Earth, what is g at its surface?
9.8 N kg⁻¹
19.6 N kg⁻¹
4.9 N kg⁻¹
2.5 N kg⁻¹
30s
Ignoring air resistance, which change would increase the escape velocity from a planet's surface?
Increasing the planet's mass at the same radius
Launching the projectile at a steeper angle
Increasing the planet's radius at the same mass
Increasing the mass of the projectile
30s
A satellite moves in a circular orbit at speed v. What is the escape velocity from that same orbital radius?
v ÷ √2
4 × v
2 × v
√2 × v
30s
Earth: M = 6.0 × 10²⁴ kg, R = 6.4 × 10⁶ m, G = 6.67 × 10⁻¹¹ N m² kg⁻². What is the gravitational potential at its surface?
−9.8 J kg⁻¹
−4.0 × 10¹⁴ J kg⁻¹
+6.3 × 10⁷ J kg⁻¹
−6.3 × 10⁷ J kg⁻¹
60s
For a satellite in a circular orbit, how is its kinetic energy Eₖ related to its gravitational potential energy Eₚ?
Eₖ = −½ Eₚ
Eₖ = −Eₚ
Eₖ = −2 Eₚ
Eₖ = Eₚ
30s