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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.
The theorem tells us how different parts of the mass distribution affect the gravitational force measured at a point located a distance r 0 from the center of the mass distribution: [13] The portion of the mass that is located at radii r < r 0 causes the same force at the radius r 0 as if all of the mass enclosed within a sphere of radius r 0 ...
But in a relativistic theory of gravity, mass cannot be the only source of gravity. Relativity links mass with energy, and energy with momentum. The equivalence between mass and energy, as expressed by the formula E = mc 2, is the most famous consequence of special relativity. In relativity, mass and energy are two different ways of describing ...
The deflection of light by gravity is responsible for a new class of astronomical phenomena. If a massive object is situated between the astronomer and a distant target object with appropriate mass and relative distances, the astronomer will see multiple distorted images of the target. Such effects are known as gravitational lensing. [109]
Nevertheless, one object will always weigh more than another with less mass if both are subject to the same gravity (i.e. the same gravitational field strength). In scientific contexts, mass is the amount of "matter" in an object (though "matter" may be difficult to define), but weight is the force exerted on an object's matter by gravity. [1]
Some of the tests of the equivalence principle use names for the different ways mass appears in physical formulae. In nonrelativistic physics three kinds of mass can be distinguished: [14] Inertial mass intrinsic to an object, the sum of all of its mass–energy. Passive mass, the response to gravity, the object's weight.
The relative standard uncertainty is 2.2 ... and mass in the total mass of the orbiting ... This quantity gives a convenient simplification of various gravity-related ...
In its original concept, gravity was a force between point masses. Following Isaac Newton, Pierre-Simon Laplace attempted to model gravity as some kind of radiation field or fluid, [citation needed] and since the 19th century, explanations for gravity in classical mechanics have usually been taught in terms of a field model, rather than a point ...