Gravity

What is gravity?

Gravity is the mysterious force that makes everything fall down towards the Earth. But
what is it?

It turns out that all objects have gravity. It's just that some objects, like the Earth and the
Sun, have a lot more gravity than others.

How much gravity an object has depends on how big it is. To be specific, how much
mass it has. It also depends on how close you are to the object. The closer you are, the
stronger the gravity.

Why is gravity important?

Gravity is very important to our everyday lives. Without Earth's gravity we would fly right
off it. We'd all have to be strapped down. If you kicked a ball, it would fly off forever.
While it might be fun to try for a few minutes, we certainly couldn't live without gravity

Gravity also is important on a larger scale. It is the Sun's gravity that keeps the Earth in orbit
around the Sun. Life on Earth needs the Sun's light and warmth to survive. Gravity helps the
Earth to stay just the right distance from the Sun, so it's not too hot or too cold.

Who discovered gravity?

The first person who dropped something heavy on their toe knew something was going on, but
gravity was first mathematically described by the scientist Isaac Newton. His theory is
called Newton's law of universal gravitation. Later, Albert Einstein would make some
improvements on this theory in his theory of relativity.

What is weight?

Weight is the force of gravity on an object. Our weight on Earth is how much force the Earth's
gravity has on us and how hard it is pulling us toward the surface.

Do objects fall at the same speed?

Yes, this is called the equivalence principle. Objects of different masses will fall to the
Earth at the same speed. If you take two balls of different masses to the top of a
building and drop them, they will hit the ground at the same time. There is actually a
specific acceleration that all objects fall at called a standard gravity, or "g". It equals
9.807 meters per second squared (m/s 2).

Fun facts about gravity

 Ocean tides are caused by the gravity of the moon.

 Mars is smaller and has less mass than Earth. As a result it has less gravity. If
you weigh 100 pounds on Earth, you would weigh 38 pounds on Mars.
 The standard gravity from Earth is 1 g force. When riding a roller coaster you
may feel a lot more g forces at times. Maybe as much as 4 or 5 g's. Fighter pilots
or astronauts may feel even more.
 At some point when falling, the friction from the air will equal the force of gravity
and the object will be at a constant speed. This is called the terminal velocity. For
a sky diver this speed is around 122 miles per hour!

What is the formula for calculating gravity?

 Gravitational Force = (Gravitational Constant × Mass of first object × Mass of
the second object) / (Distance between the centre of two bodies) 2.

Gravity

Falling Apple
Gravity is all around us. It can, for example, make an apple fall to the
ground:
Gravity constantly acts on the apple so it goes faster and faster ... in other
words it accelerates.

Ignoring air resistance, its velocity increases by 9.8 meters per

second every second. So we get this:

After 1 second: 9.8 m/s

After 2 seconds: 19.6 m/s
After 3 seconds: 29.4 m/s
etc...

9.8 meters per second per second (yes, that is two lots of "per second")
can be written 9.8 m/s/s, but is usually written:

9.8 m/s2

9.8 m/s2 is the acceleration due to gravity near the Earth's surface.

Nearly everything in our lives happens near the Earth's surface, so that
value gets used a lot, and is written as a little g:

g = 9.8 m/s2

The average value is 9.80665 m/s2, but values are different around the
world, such as Calcutta at 9.78548, London at 9.81599 and Tokyo at
9.79805.

So most people just use 9.8 m/s2

To hold an apple against gravity needs force.

Force is mass times acceleration (F = ma), and in this case the acceleration
is g:
 F = mg

Example: how much force to hold an apple with a mass of 0.1 kg?

F = mg

F = 0.1 kg × 9.8 m/s2

F = 0.98 kg m/s2

Force is measured in Newtons (N) which are the same as kg m/s2

F = 0.98 N

So it needs a force of about 1 Newton to hold up an apple.

We also say the apple has a weight of 0.98 N.

To convert a mass in kg to a force in Newtons multiply by 9.8 m/s2

Another example:

Example: a 100kg steel beam sits evenly on two supports. How much

force is on each support?

The beam exerts a downwards force due to gravity:

F = mg

F = 100 kg × 9.8 m/s2 = 980 N

As it sits evenly on the support, each support bears half the weight
(980/2=490):
But What Is Gravity?
Now you know how to deal with gravity here on Earth (just multiply mass
by 9.8 m/s2 to get force), but what is gravity really?

Well, mass and energy make space curved (or distorted), so it is natural for
objects to follow a path towards each other.

Here an object naturally follows space-time towards Earth

This results in objects being attracted to each other, which we

call Gravity.

Gravity: the attraction of objects with mass or energy towards each other.

This attraction shows as a force that is:

 less for objects that are further away

 more for objects of greater mass (like the Sun)

Imagine just two balls:

Each ball is made of lots of bits of mass and energy that are all attracted to
each other:

(Actually needs lots more particles!)

But we normally simplify it by imagining each ball's mass and energy is at

its center, called the Center of Gravity.

(But remember we just imagine all the mass is at the center, to

make calculations easier.)

Newton worked out a formula for the force of attraction:

F = G m1  m2d2

 F is the force (in Newtons), which is equal but opposite in direction for

both objects
 G is the gravitational constant, approximately 6.674×10 -11 N m2/kg2
 m1 and m2 are the two masses (in kg)
 d is the distance between the centers of each mass (in meters)

Example: Two cars with masses of 800 kg and 1500 kg are 3 m apart

The gravitational attraction between the two cars is:

F = G m1  m2d2

 F = 6.674×10-11 N m2/kg2 × 800 kg × 1500 kg(3 m)2

F ≈ 0.000009 N

They are very slightly (only 9 millionths of a Newton) attracted towards

each other! 

Example: An Apple and the Earth

The apple has a mass of 0.1 kg

The Earth has a mass of 5.972×1024 kg

From the center of the apple to the center of the Earth is 6371 km

(6.371×106 m)

F = G m1  m2d2

F = 6.674×10-11 N m2/kg2 × 0.1 kg × 5.972×1024 kg(6.371×106 m)2

F = 0.98 N

(This is the same value as the earlier apple calculation, so that's good!)

Goes Both Ways

The Earth is also attracted to the apple!

But the Earth is so ridiculously more massive that it hardly affects it.

Let's calculate the acceleration for the apple and for the Earth:

Example (continued): Knowing the force is 0.98 N what is the

acceleration for the apple and the Earth?

For the apple:
     F = ma
We know F is 0.98 N, and m is 0.1 kg   0.98 N = 0.1 kg a
Divide both sides by 0.1 kg   0.98 N / 0.1 kg = a
Swap sides   a = 0.98 N / 0.1 kg
Answer:   a = 9.8 m/s2

That is the acceleration due to gravity "g" that we all experience every day.

And for the Earth:

    F = ma
F is 0.98 N, and m is 5.972×10  kg   0.98 N = 5.972×1024 kg a
24

Divide both sides by 5.972×1024 kg   0.98 N / 5.972×1024 kg = a

Swap sides   a = 0.98 N / 5.972×1024 kg
Answer:   a = 1.64×10-25 m/s2

That is an extremely small acceleration, no wonder we don't notice the Earth

moving due to the apple.

But a much larger object such as the Moon (with a mass of 7.342×1022 kg)
does have a noticeable effect on the Earth.

The Moon orbits the Earth at about 384,000 km every 27.3 days

And the Earth also has an "orbit" (more like a wobble) with the Moon of
about 5000 km (which is actually less than the Earth's radius), also every
27.3 days.

Your turn: try to work out the force of attraction between the Earth and the
Moon.

Have a Play
Have a play with gravity at Gravity Freeplay.

Summary
 mass and energy curve space, which naturally makes objects move towards
each other
 this attraction we call gravity
 this constant attraction makes objects accelerate towards each other
 the acceleration has a matching force (F=ma)
 near the surface of the Earth the acceleration due to gravity is 9.8 m/s2
  so a 1 kg mass experiences a gravitational pull of 9.8 Newtons of force

Reference:
https://www.mathsisfun.com/physics/gravity.html
https://www.ducksters.com/science/gravity.php