What does negative gravitational force mean?

But as we said what the gravitational potential energy wants to do is the opposite! So the work done by gravity is NEGATIVE. The gravitational potential energy is negative because us trying to do the opposite of what gravity wants needs positive energy.

Can you have negative gravitational?

The gravitational potential energy could even be negative if the object were to pass below the zero point.

Is gravitational force always positive?

In the case of gravity, mediated by spin 2 particles, charge is mass, which is always positive. Thus, q1q2 is always greater than zero, and gravity is always attractive. For spin 0 force mediators, however, there is no restriction on the charges and you can very well have repulsive forces.

How do you know if gravitational force is positive or negative?

Of course, the gravitational force is always attractive, so this minus sign is always present, but in different kind of forces such as Coulomb force, a negative module means an attractive force while a positive module means a repulsive one, and the sign of the module comes from the sign of the charges.

Why is gravitational potential taken negative?

By the work-energy theorem the work done is the change in kinetic energy. We have defined our gravitational potential energy as the negative of this: as a mass moves towards the gravitating object it gains kinetic energy (it speeds up). Thus the gravitational potential energy is always negative.

Where the weight of body is maximum?

poles
Now the weight of the body is directly proportional to the acceleration due to the gravity on the surface of the earth. So the weight of the body is maximum at the poles and minimum at the equator on the surface of the earth.

Why is gravitational field strength negative?

The standard reference position, unless otherwise stated, is “the edge of the universe”. Thus the gravitational potential at a point is the amount of work per unit mass needed to be done on a mass bring that mass to that point. This value is always negative.

Is a negative force attractive?

9. When they are connected with a wire, the spheres will evenly divide the total charge. Also, an attractive force is negative, and a repelling force is positive.

Why is universal gravitational force negative?

i.e. when the objects are infinitely far apart. The negative sign is a consequence of the attractive nature of the gravitational force. When the objects are far apart, the gravitational force naturally moves them closer, decreasing their potential energy (i.e. making it more negative). constant + mgh.