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In physics, gravity (from Latin gravitas 'weight' [1]) is a fundamental interaction primarily observed as mutual attraction between all things that have mass.Gravity is, by far, the weakest of the four fundamental interactions, approximately 10 38 times weaker than the strong interaction, 10 36 times weaker than the electromagnetic force and 10 29 times weaker than the weak interaction.
Before Newton’s law of gravity, there were many theories explaining gravity. Philoshophers made observations about things falling down − and developed theories why they do – as early as Aristotle who thought that rocks fall to the ground because seeking the ground was an essential part of their nature. [6]
Electromagnetic forces are tremendously stronger than gravity, but tend to cancel out so that for astronomical-scale bodies, gravity dominates. Electrical and magnetic phenomena have been observed since ancient times, but it was only in the 19th century James Clerk Maxwell discovered that electricity and magnetism are two aspects of the same ...
The gravity g′ at depth d is given by g′ = g(1 − d/R) where g is acceleration due to gravity on the surface of the Earth, d is depth and R is the radius of the Earth. If the density decreased linearly with increasing radius from a density ρ 0 at the center to ρ 1 at the surface, then ρ ( r ) = ρ 0 − ( ρ 0 − ρ 1 ) r / R , and the ...
After 1915, when Albert Einstein published the theory of gravity (general relativity), the search for a unified field theory combining gravity with electromagnetism began with a renewed interest. In Einstein's day, the strong and the weak forces had not yet been discovered, yet he found the potential existence of two other distinct forces ...
An overview of ranges of mass. To help compare different orders of magnitude, the following lists describe various mass levels between 10 −67 kg and 10 52 kg. The least massive thing listed here is a graviton, and the most massive thing is the observable universe.
Close to the Earth's surface, the gravitational field is approximately constant, and the gravitational potential energy of an object reduces to = = | | | | = | |, where is the object's mass, = ^ | | is the gravity of Earth, and is the height of the object's center of mass above a chosen reference level.
At a fixed point on the surface, the magnitude of Earth's gravity results from combined effect of gravitation and the centrifugal force from Earth's rotation. [ 2 ] [ 3 ] At different points on Earth's surface, the free fall acceleration ranges from 9.764 to 9.834 m/s 2 (32.03 to 32.26 ft/s 2 ), [ 4 ] depending on altitude , latitude , and ...