Question
As isolines of electric potential get closer together, the electric field gets stronger. What shape would a hill have as the isolines of gravitational potential get closer together?
- constant slope
- steeper slope
- shallower slope
- a U-shape
Final Answer
(b)
Solution video
OpenStax College Physics for AP® Courses, Chapter 19, Problem 27 (Test Prep for AP® Courses)
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Video Transcript
This is College Physics Answers with Shaun Dychko. In order for isolines of gravitational potential to get closer together, there needs to be more mass in the center. So, here's an example where there's not as much mass in the center, and then here's where you have more mass in the center with the isolines closer together. And in order to increase the amount of mass in the center, the only way to do that with a hill is to make the hill steeper and higher. And so, by making it higher, it becomes steeper. And so, the answer to this question, 27, is B. We could see that here, steeper slope, by piling more and more mass to make the hill higher and higher, to give it more gravitational potential.