State what is indicated by the direction of the gravitational field line at a point in a gravitational field.
A large isolated uniform sphere has mass and radius
. Point P lies on a straight line passing through the centre of the sphere, at a variable displacement
from the centre, as shown in the figure below.
The graph below shows the variation with of the gravitational field
at point P due to the sphere for
the values of for which P is inside the sphere.
The magnitude of the gravitational field at the surface of the sphere is .
Determine an expression for in terms of
and
. Identify any other symbols that you use.
Explain why, at the surface of the sphere, always has the opposite sign to
.