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AP Physics B 2.1 Newtonian Mechanics
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AP Physics B: Newtonian Mechanics Section Drill 2, problem 1. What is the acceleration due to gravity for objects dropped near the surface of Europa?

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AP Physics B 2.1 Newtonian Mechanics 256 Views


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AP Physics B: Newtonian Mechanics Section Drill 2, problem 1. What is the acceleration due to gravity for objects dropped near the surface of Europa?

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Transcript

00:03

Here's your shmoop du jour... Europa, one of the moons of Jupiter, has a

00:07

mass that is about one tenth that of Earth and a radius that is about one quarter of Earth's.

00:13

In terms of g, as measured on Earth, what is the acceleration due to gravity for objects

00:22

dropped near the surface of Europa? Here are the possible answers...

00:29

Ok, what is this question asking?

00:31

Well, it's not asking about the gravitational pull in Europe, for starters.

00:34

Even if some of their hair-dos over there do seem to defy gravity... they're pretty

00:38

much abiding by the same laws of physics that we do in the States.

00:41

Instead, the focus is on Europa, one of Jupiter's moons.

00:44

To solve this problem, we use Newton's law of gravitation:

00:48

For our equation, we use

00:50

m1g... the force of gravity on earth... is equal to big G, the gravitational constant,

00:56

times m1 times m2 divided by r squared.

01:04

In this equation, m represents the mass of an object,

01:08

and r is the distance between the two objects.

01:12

We can divide the m1... your mass...

01:16

out of both sides...

01:18

...and here's what we get: the acceleration of gravity on earth is equal

01:23

to the Gravitational constant...

01:25

...multiplied by the mass of the Earth all over the radius squared.

01:31

We can write this same equation for Europa.

01:36

Now, by substituting the values for Europa we can get the acceleration of gravity on that moon.

01:41

The mass for Europa is one tenth that of Earth, so we multiply mEarth by .1.

01:48

The distance between the center of Europa and whatever this slippery object is that

01:51

we've dropped... is one fourth of Earth, so we multiply r by .25.

01:57

We have to make sure we multiply R by .25 before we square it.

02:01

Simplifying what we have, we get that the gravity on Europa is equal to .1 over .25

02:07

squared or 1.6 times the gravity of Earth or 1.6 times stronger.

02:13

Answer (E).

02:15

Maybe it's time for someone to invest in a utility belt...

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