Skip to ContentGo to accessibility page
OpenStax Logo
College Physics for AP® Courses 2e

Test Prep for AP® Courses

College Physics for AP® Courses 2eTest Prep for AP® Courses

Test Prep for AP® Courses

6.5 Newton’s Universal Law of Gravitation

1.

Jupiter has a mass approximately 300 times greater than Earth's and a radius about 11 times greater. How will the gravitational acceleration at the surface of Jupiter compare to that at the surface of the Earth?

  1. Greater
  2. Less
  3. About the same
  4. Not enough information
2.

Given Newton's universal law of gravitation (Equation 6.40), under what circumstances is the force due to gravity maximized?

3.

In the formula g= GM r 2 g= GM r 2 , what does G represent?

  1. The acceleration due to gravity
  2. A gravitational constant that is the same everywhere in the universe
  3. A gravitational constant that is inversely proportional to the radius
  4. The factor by which you multiply the inertial mass to obtain the gravitational mass
4.

Saturn's moon Titan has a radius of 2.58 × 106 m and a measured gravitational field of 1.35 m/s2. What is its mass?

5.

A recently discovered planet has a mass twice as great as Earth's and a radius twice as large as Earth's. What will be the approximate size of its gravitational field?

  1. 19 m/s2
  2. 4.9 m/s2
  3. 2.5 m/s2
  4. 9.8 m/s2
6.

4. Earth is 1.5 × 1011 m from the Sun. Mercury is 5.7 × 1010 m from the Sun. How does the gravitational field of the Sun on Mercury (gSM) compare to the gravitational field of the Sun on Earth (gSE)?

PreviousNext
Order a print copy
Citation/Attribution
Reuse and redistribution of this content in digital or print format:
  • This book may not be used in the training of large language models or otherwise be ingested into large language models or generative AI offerings without OpenStax's prior written permission.
  • This book uses the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License, which means that you can reuse and modify the material only for noncommercial purposes, must attribute OpenStax, and must distribute any derivative works under the same license.
  • Any commercial printing of this textbook, including using a local or custom printer, must be approved by OpenStax, and proper citation provided.
  • OpenStax-copyrighted images, activities, assessments, and similar components of this book are subject to the same licensing – CC-BY-NC-SA. They can be used for noncommercial purposes with attribution. Commercial use requires permission.
  • Permission requests: Anyone who intends to incorporate this content (including text, images, and other components) into large language models, use it in AI offerings, use it commercially (including in print), and/or has questions about another use case is welcome to complete our reuse request form.
Attribution information
  • If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a noncommercial print format, then you must include on every physical page the following attribution:

    Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/college-physics-ap-courses-2e/pages/1-connection-for-ap-r-courses

  • If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a noncommercial digital format, then for every page that includes OpenStax content, you must license the derivative work under the same CC-BY-NC-SA license as the original, and include on every digital page view the following attribution:

    Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/college-physics-ap-courses-2e/pages/1-connection-for-ap-r-courses

Citation information

The information below includes the information needed to generate citations in most major styles (APA, MLA, etc.); you must reformat and organize the information as needed to fit the requirements of the style. Use the information below to generate a citation. We recommend using a citation tool such as this one.

© Jul 9, 2026 OpenStax. Textbook content produced by OpenStax is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License. The OpenStax name, OpenStax logo, OpenStax book covers, OpenStax CNX name, and OpenStax CNX logo, and Rice University name, and Rice University logo trademarks, or wordmarks are not subject to the Creative Commons license and may not be reproduced without the prior and express written consent of Rice University.