2nd year of post-compulsory secondary education
Gravitational fields
José Luis San Emeterio
 GRAVF 
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Angular momentum and central force

Newton's law of universal gravitation is designed to satisfy Kepler's third law.

The other two laws are related to the concepts of angular momentum and central force.

The angular momentum (L) of a particle about an origin O is the vector product of the position vector r and the linear momentum m·v.

The variation of L depends on the torque acting on the particle. If the force causing the torque is a central force, then the angular momentum of the particle about the centre is equal to zero and the angular momentum remains constant.

Click on Next to understand the importance of this statement.

Historical background
Freely falling bodies
Two theories of the universe
Kepler's laws
Conclusions
The force of gravity
Newton's law
The superposition of forces
Angular momentum and central force
Conclusions
Field intensity
The concept of field intensity
Variations according to position
Conclusions
Energy in the gravitational field
Gravitational potential energy
Equipotential surfaces and lines of force
Conclusions
Some consequences of the theory
Explanation of the tides
The movement of artificial satellites
Coherence of galaxies
Conclusions
Evaluation