Gravitational Equipotential

Key Stage 5

Meaning

A gravitational equipotential is an imaginary surface within a gravitational field in which any location on that surface has the same gravitational potential.

About Gravitational Equipotentials

Gravitational equipotentials can, in most cases, be thought of as a shell surrounding an object where all points on that shell have the same gravitational potential. However, a gravitational equipotential may be a shell which does not surround an object when multiple gravitational fields are surrounding a region of space.

The shape of a gravitational equipotential is affected by the mass distribution of the object and the gravitational fields of other local objects.

Lines of gravitational equipotential are always at right angles to the direction of the field lines.