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In physics, gravity (from Latin gravitas 'weight' [1]) is a fundamental interaction primarily observed as a 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.
In quantum mechanics, physicists often use the terms "force" and "interaction" interchangeably; for example, the weak interaction is sometimes referred to as the "weak force". According to the present understanding, there are four fundamental interactions or forces: gravitation , electromagnetism, the weak interaction , and the strong interaction.
The weak interaction does not produce bound states, nor does it involve binding energy – something that gravity does on an astronomical scale, the electromagnetic force does at the molecular and atomic levels, and the strong nuclear force does only at the subatomic level, inside of nuclei.
The most familiar non-contact force is gravity, which confers weight. [1] In contrast, a contact force is a force which acts on an object coming physically in contact with it. [1] All four known fundamental interactions are non-contact forces: [2] Gravity, the force of attraction that exists among all bodies that have mass. The force exerted on ...
Like the force carriers of the other forces (see photon, gluon, W and Z bosons), the graviton plays a role in general relativity, in defining the spacetime in which events take place. In some descriptions energy modifies the "shape" of spacetime itself, and gravity is a result of this shape, an idea which at first glance may appear hard to ...
In particle physics, the most important hierarchy problem is the question that asks why the weak force is 10 24 times as strong as gravity. [10] Both of these forces involve constants of nature, the Fermi constant for the weak force and the Newtonian constant of gravitation for gravity.
This is because the gravitational force is an extremely weak force as compared to other fundamental forces at the laboratory scale. [d] In SI units, the CODATA-recommended value of the gravitational constant is: [1] = 6.674 30 (15) × 10 −11 m 3 ⋅kg −1 ⋅s −2. The relative standard uncertainty is 2.2 × 10 −5.
In classical mechanics, a gravitational field is a physical quantity. [5] A gravitational field can be defined using Newton's law of universal gravitation.Determined in this way, the gravitational field g around a single particle of mass M is a vector field consisting at every point of a vector pointing directly towards the particle.