JEE Main 2023 — Gravitation Question with Solution
From: JEE Main 2023 (Online) 24th January Evening Shift
Question
Given below are two statements:
Statement I : Acceleration due to earth's gravity decreases as you go 'up' or 'down' from earth's surface.
Statement II : Acceleration due to earth's gravity is same at a height 'h' and depth 'd' from earth's surface, if h = d.
In the light of above statements, choose the most appropriate answer from the options given below
Choose an option
Show full solutionCorrect option: A
Step-by-step explanation
The most appropriate answer is Statement I is correct but statement II is incorrect.
Statement I is correct as acceleration due to Earth's gravity decreases as you move away from its surface either upward or downward. This is because the gravity of the Earth follows an inverse square law, which means that the gravitational force decreases as the square of the distance between two objects increases.
However, statement II is incorrect because acceleration due to Earth's gravity is not the same at a height and depth from Earth's surface, even if they are equal in magnitude. This is because the Earth is not a perfect sphere and has a non-uniform distribution of mass, which causes variations in the strength of gravity at different locations. Therefore, the acceleration due to Earth's gravity will be different at a certain height and depth, even if they are equal.
Practice this on the real CBT interface
Solve this JEE Main question (and the rest of the Gravitation chapter) on PrepSharp's TCS iON-style CBT player — with timer, bookmarks and session analytics.
Solve interactively →About this question
This is a previous-year question from JEE Main 2023, covering the Gravitation chapter of Physics. PrepSharp catalogues every PYQ from JEE Main with a verified answer key and step-by-step solution prepared by IIT alumni — so you can search by chapter, topic or year and revise efficiently.