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Physics LibreTexts

5.4.1: Field of a Point Mass

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Equation 5.3.1, together with the definition of field strength as the force experienced by unit mass, means that the field at a distance r from a point mass M is

g=GMr2N kg1 or m s2

In vector form, this can be written as

g=GMr2ˆrN kg1 or m s2

Here ˆr is a dimensionless unit vector in the radial direction.

It can also be written as

g=GMr3rN kg1 or m s2

Here r is a vector of magnitude r − hence the r3 in the denominator.


This page titled 5.4.1: Field of a Point Mass is shared under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Jeremy Tatum via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform.

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