How does gravity work?
2 answers
Every object in space exerts a gravitational pull on every other, and so gravity influences the paths taken by everything traveling through space. It is the glue that holds together entire galaxies. It keeps planets in orbit. It makes it possible to use human-made satellites and to go to and return from the Moon.
Every particle of mass exerts an attractive force on every other particle.
That force is proportional to the product of the masses and the reciprocal of the square of the distance between them.
Force = constant * M1 * M2 / D^2
if the masses are in kilograms and the distance in meters, the constant is G = 6.67*10^-11 and the force in Newtons.As you can see if you double D, you decrease F by 4.
If yo are near the surface of a big object like earth, then G M1/D^2 is pretty much constant and
F = (GM1/D^2) M2 = g M2
and near earth g is about 9.81
so a one kg mass has weight of 9.81 Newtons
That force is proportional to the product of the masses and the reciprocal of the square of the distance between them.
Force = constant * M1 * M2 / D^2
if the masses are in kilograms and the distance in meters, the constant is G = 6.67*10^-11 and the force in Newtons.As you can see if you double D, you decrease F by 4.
If yo are near the surface of a big object like earth, then G M1/D^2 is pretty much constant and
F = (GM1/D^2) M2 = g M2
and near earth g is about 9.81
so a one kg mass has weight of 9.81 Newtons
0 answers