In NCERT Solutions for Class 11 Chapter 7 Gravitation, how does gravitational potential energy vary with distance?

Gravitational Potential Energy (U) is the energy an object has due to its position in a gravitational field. It is defined as:

Where M represents the mass of the larger body, m is the mass of the smaller body, r is the distance between them, and G stands for the gravitational constant.
G is written with a negative sign to show that the gravitational potential energy is always lower than zero and the values even decrease as the objects move apart from each other. It implies that to separate two masses, work should be done against the gravity. At infinity, U = 0, implying that no external force is required to keep them apart. When two obj

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Gravitational Potential Energy (U) is the energy an object has due to its position in a gravitational field. It is defined as:

Where M represents the mass of the larger body, m is the mass of the smaller body, r is the distance between them, and G stands for the gravitational constant.
G is written with a negative sign to show that the gravitational potential energy is always lower than zero and the values even decrease as the objects move apart from each other. It implies that to separate two masses, work should be done against the gravity. At infinity, U = 0, implying that no external force is required to keep them apart. When two objects are closer, potential energy is more negative which implies a stronger gravitational attraction. The concept is very important in fields such as orbital mechanics and astrophysics.

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<p><strong>Gravitational Potential Energy </strong> (U) is the energy an object has due to its position in a gravitational field. It is defined as:</p><div class="photo-widget"><div class="figure"><picture><source srcset="" media=" (max-width: 500px)"><img src="https://images.shiksha.com/mediadata/images/1743589813phpIZu6Y0.jpeg" alt="" width="243" height="112" loading="lazy"></picture></div></div><p>Where M represents the mass of the larger body, m is the mass of the smaller body, r is the distance between them, and G stands for the gravitational constant.<br>G is written with a negative sign to show that the gravitational potential energy is always lower than zero and the values even decrease as the objects move apart from each other. It implies that to separate two masses, work should be done against the gravity. At infinity, U = 0, implying that no external force is required to keep them apart. When two objects are closer, potential energy is more negative which implies a stronger gravitational attraction. The concept is very important in fields such as orbital mechanics and astrophysics.</p>

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