Question

The gravitational potential energy of a system consisting two particles separated by a distance $r$ is

• A. directly proportional to product of the masses of particles
• B. inversely proportional to the separation between them
• C. independent of distance $r$
• D. Both (a) and (b)

Answer 1

Answer: (D)

Two point masses $m_1$ and $m_2$ are separated by a distance $r$ is shown as

Gravitational potential energy $(U)$ of the above system is given as
$U=-\frac{G{m}_1{m}_h}{r}$
i.e. gravitational potential energy $\propto m_1{m}_2$ and gravitational potential energy $\propto \frac{1}{r}$ or gravitational potential energy is directly proportional to the product of the masses of particles and inversely proportional to the separation between them.