Ages

Introduction

Summary

Gravitational fields (and force!) obey the principle of superposition. You can show that the field follows a spherical symmetry near the planets but the influence of the Earth  extends farther because of its superior mass (80 times Moon's mass).
Notice the existence of a single point where the g field is equal to zero.
Click on the screen to show or erase the field lines.
This animation is not done to scale.

Goals

• To apply the superposition principle to determine the gravitational field at any point between the Earth and the Moon.
• To show how stronger is the earth's field compared to the Moon's one.

Features

Click on the screen to display the field lines.

Tags

gravitation field-lines earth moon superposition Newton