Assuming the earth to be a uniform sphere rotating about an axis through the poles, the weight of a body at equator compared with its weight at the pole would be:
Correct answer: A. Greater
- A. Greater
- B. Smaller
- C. Equal
- D. None of these
Explanation
If we consider the Earth to be a perfect sphere (ignoring its actual oblate spheroid shape), the weight of a body at the equator would be slightly more than its weight at the pole. This is due to the centripetal acceleration caused by the Earth's rotation. At the equator, a point on the Earth's surface is moving faster in its rotation than a point at the poles. The centripetal acceleration needed to keep an object moving in a circle is given by: ac= v2/r where: - ac is the centripetal acceleration, - v is the linear velocity (speed) of the object, and - r is the radius of the circle (distance from the center of the Earth).
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About Gravitation
Newton’s law of universal gravitation relates the force between masses to their masses and separation, while gravitational field strength explains weight and orbital motion. The topic covers satellite velocity and period, escape ideas, weightlessness in free fall, and artificial gravity, which differs from ordinary gravitational attraction.
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