Practice question
Question
Why is the gravitational potential energy negative in a bound system?
Explanation
Gravitational potential energy as V = −GMmr, with zero at infinity. For a bound system (e.g., orbit), the negative value indicates that work must be done to separate the objects to infinity, reflecting gravitational attraction.
Discussion
Comments
Please log in to join the discussion.
Login to commentNo comments yet. Be the first to start the discussion.