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This is a general physical law derived from empirical observations by what Isaac Newton called inductive reasoning. [4] It is a part of classical mechanics and was formulated in Newton's work Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica ("the Principia"), first published on 5 July 1687. The equation for universal gravitation thus takes the form:
The gravitational constant G is a key quantity in Newton's law of universal gravitation. The gravitational constant is an empirical physical constant involved in the calculation of gravitational effects in Sir Isaac Newton's law of universal gravitation and in Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity.
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.
The formula for a clock at rest is given above; the formula below gives the general relativistic time dilation for a clock in a circular orbit: [11] [12] =. Both dilations are shown in the figure below.
Gravitation also explains astronomical phenomena on more modest scales, such as planetary orbits, as well as everyday experience: objects fall; heavy objects act as if they were glued to the ground, and animals can only jump so high. Gravitation was the first interaction to be described mathematically.
General relativity is a theory of gravitation developed by Albert Einstein between 1907 and 1915. The theory of general relativity says that the observed gravitational effect between masses results from their warping of spacetime.
The equivalence principle is the hypothesis that the observed equivalence of gravitational and inertial mass is a consequence of nature. The weak form, known for centuries, relates to masses of any composition in free fall taking the same trajectories and landing at identical times.
An important distinction in physics is the difference between local and global structures. Measurements in physics are performed in a relatively small region of spacetime and this is one reason for studying the local structure of spacetime in general relativity, whereas determining the global spacetime structure is important, especially in ...