Calculating Gravity and Potential Energy: Understanding the Forces of Nature

2024-03-15 11:31:54

Gravity that affects potential energy, the energy of a stationary object caused by the Earth’s gravitational pull, can be calculated from a mathematical formula.

Gravity is the force of attraction on the Earth or the force of the Earth that acts on the mass of every object on Earth and objects near the Earth’s surface. They attract objects to each other towards the center of the earth, causing various objects It always falls towards the earth and gives the object its weight. You can try this by dropping a ball on the ground.

The discoverer of gravity on Earth was the great scientist Sir Isaac Newton. who discovered the law of gravity and the 3 laws of motion, the foundation of today’s science and technology The starting point comes from He sat under an apple tree that day thinking about the reasons for the moon’s orbit around the earth. Then he happened to hear the sound of an apple falling from the tree. This creates a link between the events of the moon orbiting the earth. It fits with the observation about gravity. Until it became the conclusion of the theory of gravity that pulls the apple to fall to the ground. and attracts the moon to orbit the earth

Later, Newton’s concepts of gravity and laws of motion were able to explain phenomena such as the orbits of the planets around the sun. The moon’s orbit and the tides

In space, gravity is the force of attraction between the planets in the solar system, or in other words, it is the force that attracts things around it towards itself. enters the center when orbiting This gravitational force is the reason for the orbit of planets, stars, comets, or space junk around the Sun.

The 4 forces of gravity

Gravity Or gravity is a natural phenomenon that causes all physical objects to attract each other. Gravity gives physical objects weight and causes them to fall to the ground when released. Gravity is one of the four main forces, consisting of the gravitational force, the electromagnetic force, and the electromagnetic force. Weak nuclear force and strong nuclear force Among the four main forces Gravity is the least.

This is despite the fact that gravity is a force that we cannot perceive much because of the lightness of the force acting on us. But it is the only force that binds us to the earth. The force of gravity is directly proportional to mass. and is inversely proportional to the distance squared. It is not attenuated or absorbed by any mass, making gravity the most important force holding the universe together.

However, in addition to the gravitational force between the masses, Gravity can also be created by changing the state of motion according to Newton’s laws of motion, such as increasing or decreasing the speed of an object. Changing the direction of movement, etc., which the force of gravity acts on the object causing more energy

work and energy

There is a difference between work and energy: work is the amount of energy that results from force acting on an object. before causing the object to move along the line of force for a certain distance In the SI system, work and energy are scalar quantities with units of Newton meters (N•m) or Joules (J) that can be calculated from

While energy is the ability of living things, objects, or substances to function, such as breathing, moving. or change in the state of matter These processes are able to continue because of the energy in nature. Energy is the basic quantity of a system that never dies. But it can be changed to various forms according to the Law of Conservation of Energy, such as nuclear energy. Thermal energy or electrical energy, etc. There are 6 types of energy as follows:

  • Chemical energy (chemical encrgy)
  • heat energy
  • mechanical energy
  • Electrical energy
  • Energy from radiation (radiant nergy)
  • Nuclear energy
  • For the energy generated by gravity is mechanical energy that can be divided into 2 forms: kinetic energy and potential energy.

    Kinetic Energy vs. Potential Energy

    Kinetic energy is energy that depends on the speed of an object. Objects that are moving at speed have kinetic energy. Objects at rest have no kinetic energy. It can be calculated from Ek = ½ mv2.

    Ek is kinetic energy and is measured in newton meters or joules (J).

    m is mass, unit is kilograms (kg).

    v is velocity, measured in meters per second (m/s).

    Potential energy is the energy stored in an object which can be released as other forms of energy. There are 2 types:

    – gravitational potential energy It is the energy stored in an object while it is at a height ready to fall or flow to a lower level. Gravitational potential energy is caused by the Earth’s gravitational pull. (Gravitational potential energy is a scalar quantity.) The value of gravitational potential energy depends on the mass of the object or its vertical height. If the object has a large mass and is very high from the reference level. The object will have a lot of gravitational potential energy. Calculated from the formula Ep = mgh.

    Ep is the gravitational potential energy and is measured in newton meters or joules (J).

    m is mass, unit is kilograms (kg).

    g is the acceleration from Earth’s gravity, approximately 9.8 meters per second squared (m/s2).

    h is the height of the object, unit is meters (m).

    elastic potential energy is the energy stored in flexible objects. which accumulates in the form of contraction, distortion or bending from receiving force. Before there is force to pull back to return to its original condition, such as springs, coils, etc.

    Furthermore, potential energy affects the electric field. The value of potential energy depends on the magnitude of the test charge under the influence of the electric field. If we rearrange the form of the equation By definition, the value of potential energy per unit of test charge To make the equation independent of the charges in the field, a quantity that is a property of the field source is called potential difference is the change in potential energy per unit charge.

    Searched and edited by Sittichot Suphawan.

    Picture from ILLUSTRATION BY AYA TSUBOI, KAVLI IPMU

    Reference information

    Read more: Gravitational Force, one of the four main forces of nature.

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