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In physics, a gravitational field or gravitational acceleration field is a vector field used to explain the influences that a body extends into the space around itself. [6] A gravitational field is used to explain gravitational phenomena, such as the gravitational force field exerted on another massive body.
Its symbol is written in several forms as m/s 2, m·s −2 or ms −2, , or less commonly, as (m/s)/s. [ 1 ] As acceleration, the unit is interpreted physically as change in velocity or speed per time interval, i.e. metre per second per second and is treated as a vector quantity.
Other units include the cgs gal (sometimes known as a galileo, in either case with symbol Gal), which equals 1 centimetre per second squared, and the g (g n), equal to 9.80665 m/s 2. The value of the g n is defined as approximately equal to the acceleration due to gravity at the Earth's surface, although the actual acceleration varies slightly ...
It is a constant defined by standard as 9.806 65 m/s 2 (about 32.174 05 ft/s 2). This value was established by the third General Conference on Weights and Measures (1901, CR 70) and used to define the standard weight of an object as the product of its mass and this nominal acceleration .
In SI base units, 1 Gal is equal to 0.01 m/s 2. The acceleration due to Earth's gravity at its surface is 976 to 983 Gal, the variation being due mainly to differences in latitude and elevation . Standard gravity is 980.665 Gal. Mountains and masses of lesser density within the Earth's crust typically cause variations in gravitational ...
A set of equations describing the trajectories of objects subject to a constant gravitational force under normal Earth-bound conditions.Assuming constant acceleration g due to Earth's gravity, Newton's law of universal gravitation simplifies to F = mg, where F is the force exerted on a mass m by the Earth's gravitational field of strength g.
A common misconception occurs between centre of mass and centre of gravity.They are defined in similar ways but are not exactly the same quantity. Centre of mass is the mathematical description of placing all the mass in the region considered to one position, centre of gravity is a real physical quantity, the point of a body where the gravitational force acts.
The standard gravitational parameter μ of a celestial body is the product of the gravitational constant G and the mass M of that body. For two bodies, the parameter may be expressed as G ( m 1 + m 2 ) , or as GM when one body is much larger than the other: μ = G ( M + m ) ≈ G M . {\displaystyle \mu =G(M+m)\approx GM.}