The gravitational field strength at the surface of the Earth is approximately 9.8 N/kg. What is the gravitational potential at the surface of the Earth?
Practice Questions
1 question
Q1
The gravitational field strength at the surface of the Earth is approximately 9.8 N/kg. What is the gravitational potential at the surface of the Earth?
0 J/kg
-9.8 J/kg
-19.6 J/kg
-39.2 J/kg
The gravitational potential at the surface of the Earth is negative, approximately -9.8 J/kg.
Questions & Step-by-step Solutions
1 item
Q
Q: The gravitational field strength at the surface of the Earth is approximately 9.8 N/kg. What is the gravitational potential at the surface of the Earth?
Solution: The gravitational potential at the surface of the Earth is negative, approximately -9.8 J/kg.
Steps: 4
Step 1: Understand that gravitational field strength (g) is the force experienced by a mass due to gravity, measured in N/kg.
Step 2: Know that gravitational potential (V) is the potential energy per unit mass at a point in a gravitational field, measured in J/kg.
Step 3: Recognize that at the surface of the Earth, the gravitational potential is defined to be negative because it is a convention in physics.
Step 4: The gravitational potential at the surface of the Earth is approximately -9.8 J/kg, which corresponds to the gravitational field strength of 9.8 N/kg.
