Gravitational force inside a spherical shell – Rankers Physics
Topic: Gravitation
Subtopic: Gravitational Field

Gravitational force inside a spherical shell

A spherical shell has mass \(M\) and radius \(R\). A point mass \(m/2\) kept inside the shell at a distance \(R/2\) from centre. Then force of attraction on the mass is:
\(\frac{2Gm^2}{R^2}\)
\(\frac{Gm^2}{R^2}\)
\(\frac{Gm^2}{2R}\)
zero

Solution:

According to shell theorem, the gravitational field inside a uniform spherical shell is zero at all points. Thus, the force acting on the point mass is zero.

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