Assume that a tunnel is dug along a chord of the Earth,at a perpendicular distance $(R / 2)$ from the Earth's centre,where $R$ is the radius of the Earth. The wall of the tunnel is frictionless. If a particle is released in this tunnel,it will execute a simple harmonic motion with a time period:

As shown in the figure,two spherical cavities are made in a uniform solid sphere of radius $R$. The boundaries of the cavities touch at the centre of the sphere. The centers of the cavities and the sphere lie on the $X$-axis. The mass of the solid sphere before the cavities were created was $M$. The gravitational force on a point mass $m$ at a distance $d$ away from the centre of the solid sphere is

Three point masses,each of mass $m$,are kept at the corners of an equilateral triangle of side $L$. The system rotates about the center of the triangle. The period of rotation $T$ is directly proportional to:

The gravitational force acting on a particle,due to a solid sphere of uniform density and radius $R$,at a distance of $3 R$ from the centre of the sphere is $F_1$. $A$ spherical hole of radius $(R / 2)$ is now made in the sphere as shown in the figure. The sphere with hole now exerts a force $F_2$ on the same particle. The ratio of $F_1$ and $F_2$ is

The mass density of a spherical body is given by $\rho(r) = \frac{k}{r}$ for $r \leq R$ and $\rho(r) = 0$ for $r > R$,where $r$ is the distance from the centre. The correct graph that describes qualitatively the acceleration,$a$,of a test particle as a function of $r$ is

$(a)$ Earth can be thought of as a sphere of radius $6400 \, km$. Any object (or a person) is performing circular motion around the axis of the Earth due to the Earth's rotation (period $1 \, \text{day}$). What is the acceleration of an object on the surface of the Earth (at the equator) towards its centre? What is it at latitude $\theta$? How do these accelerations compare with $g = 9.8 \, m/s^2$?
$(b)$ The Earth also moves in a circular orbit around the Sun once every year with an orbital radius of $1.5 \times 10^{11} \, m$. What is the acceleration of the Earth (or any object on the surface of the Earth) towards the centre of the Sun? How does this acceleration compare with $g = 9.8 \, m/s^2$?