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Class XI · Physics

Gravitation: NEET MCQ practice

131 practice questions on Gravitation, each with an explanation. Practise them chapter by chapter in the GyaanLoop app.

131

Practice questions

65

Easy

64

Medium

2

Hard

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What Gravitation covers

Topics in the NEET (UG) 2026–27 syllabus for this chapter.

  • Universal law of gravitation
  • Acceleration due to gravity and its variation with altitude and depth
  • Gravitational potential energy, gravitational potential
  • Kepler's laws of planetary motion
  • Escape velocity, motion of a satellite, orbital velocity, time period and energy of satellite

Sample questions on Gravitation

Try each one, then open the answer and explanation.

Question 1 · Practice question

Different planets have different escape velocities because:

  1. A.different planets have different atmosphere
  2. B.they have different distances from sun
  3. C.escape velocity depends on the body that has to escape the atmosphere of the planet
  4. D.they have different masses and sizes
Show answer

Answer: D. they have different masses and sizes

Escape velocity depends only on the planet's mass and radius (v(esc) = √(2GM/R)), so planets with different masses and radii will have different escape velocities. The other options are incorrect because escape velocity does not depend on the atmosphere, the distance from the Sun, or the mass of the escaping object (as long as it's small compared to the planet).

Question 2 · Practice question

Kepler’s second law states that the straight line joining the planet to the sun sweeps out equal areas in equal time. The statement is equivalent to saying that:

  1. A.longitudnal acceleration is zero
  2. B.total acceleration is zero
  3. C.transverse acceleration is zero
  4. D.radial acceleration is zero
Show answer

Answer: C. transverse acceleration is zero

Kepler's second law means angular momentum about the sun is conserved. For a central force like gravity, there is no force perpendicular to the radial direction, so the transverse (or tangential) component of acceleration is zero. Radial acceleration is not zero because gravity provides centripetal acceleration, and total acceleration is certainly not zero — those wrong options miss the central-force nature of orbital motion.

Question 3 · Practice question

A satellite which appears to be at a fixed position at a definite height to an observer is called:

  1. A.Geostationary satellite and geosynchronous satellite
  2. B.Polar satellite
  3. C.Geostationary satellite
  4. D.Geosynchronous satellite
Show answer

Answer: C. Geostationary satellite

A geostationary satellite orbits in the equatorial plane with the same period as Earth's rotation, so it appears fixed at a definite height above a point on Earth. Option (d) 'Geosynchronous satellite' is a broader category that includes orbits with the same period but not necessarily stationary; only geostationary satellites satisfy appearing fixed. Polar satellites (b) move rapidly across the sky and do not appear stationary.

Question 4 · Practice question

The squares of the periods of revolution of the planets are proportional to the ___________of their semimajor axis of its orbit.

  1. A.sqaures
  2. B.sqaures root
  3. C.cube
  4. D.cube roots
Show answer

Answer: C. cube

This is a direct recall from Kepler's third law, which states that the square of the orbital period (T²) is proportional to the cube of the semi-major axis (a³). Therefore, the correct answer is 'cube'. Distractors like 'square' or 'cube root' come from misremembering the law or confusing the power relationships.

Question 5 · Practice question

A satellite moves in a circular orbit around earth. The radius of this orbit is one half that of moon’s orbit. The satellite completes one revolution in:

  1. A.(2) 3/2 lunar month
  2. B.(2) 3 lunar month
  3. C.(2) - 3/2 lunar month
  4. D.(2) 1/2 lunar month
Show answer

Answer: C. (2) - 3/2 lunar month

Using Kepler's third law (T² ∝ r³), the ratio of orbital periods is the square root of the cube of the radius ratio. Given satellite radius = ½ moon's radius, cube gives 1/8, square root gives 1/√8 = 2^(-3/2). Thus satellite period = 2^(-3/2) lunar months. The tempting wrong options occur if you mistakenly take T ∝ r³ (forgetting square) or misapply inverse relationships.

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