Question:

A hollow spherical shell is compressed to half its radius. The gravitational potential at the centre

Updated On: Jun 21, 2022
  • increases
  • decreases
  • remains same
  • during the compression increases then returns at the previous value at the previmis value
Hide Solution
collegedunia
Verified By Collegedunia

The Correct Option is B

Solution and Explanation

$
V =-\frac{ GM }{ r }
$
Due to the negative sign, when the radius is halved the potential decreases.
Was this answer helpful?
0
0

Concepts Used:

Gravitation

In mechanics, the universal force of attraction acting between all matter is known as Gravity, also called gravitation, . It is the weakest known force in nature.

Newton’s Law of Gravitation

According to Newton’s law of gravitation, “Every particle in the universe attracts every other particle with a force whose magnitude is,

  • F ∝ (M1M2) . . . . (1)
  • (F ∝ 1/r2) . . . . (2)

On combining equations (1) and (2) we get,

F ∝ M1M2/r2

F = G × [M1M2]/r2 . . . . (7)

Or, f(r) = GM1M2/r2

The dimension formula of G is [M-1L3T-2].