Fields at work

Understandings:

• Potential and potential energy

• Potential gradient

• Potential difference

• Escape speed

• Orbital motion, orbital speed and orbital energy

• Forces and inverse-square law behaviour

Applications and skills:

• Determining the potential energy of a point mass and the potential energy of a point charge

• Solving problems involving potential energy

• Determining the potential inside a charged sphere

• Solving problems involving the speed required for an object to go into orbit around a planet and for an object to escape the gravitational field of a planet

• Solving problems involving orbital energy of charged particles in circular orbital motion and masses in circular orbital motion

• Solving problems involving forces on charges and masses in radial and uniform fields

Guidance:

• Orbital motion of a satellite around a planet is restricted to a consideration of circular orbits (links to 6.1 and 6.2)

• Both uniform and radial fields need to be considered

• Students should recognize that lines of force can be two-dimensional representations of three-dimensional fields

• Students should assume that the electric field everywhere between parallel plates is uniform with edge effects occurring beyond the limits of the plates

some questions on gravitational potential:

Some questions on enrgy in orbits:

Some questions on escape velocity:

A compilation of Paper 2 questions on gravity fields:

A compilation of Paper 1 questions on gravity fields:

A compilation of Paper 1 questions on Electric fields:

A compilation of Paper 2 questions on Electric fields:

Solar System data