Explain gravity to a child


What Is Gravity? | NASA Space Place – NASA Science for Kids

fundamental-physics

Gravity is the force by which a planet or other body draws objects toward its center. The force of gravity keeps all of the planets in orbit around the sun.


What else does gravity do?

Why do you land on the ground when you jump up instead of floating off into space? Why do things fall down when you throw them or drop them? The answer is gravity: an invisible force that pulls objects toward each other. Earth's gravity is what keeps you on the ground and what makes things fall.

An animation of gravity at work. Albert Einstein described gravity as a curve in space that wraps around an object—such as a star or a planet. If another object is nearby, it is pulled into the curve. Image credit: NASA

Anything that has mass also has gravity. Objects with more mass have more gravity. Gravity also gets weaker with distance. So, the closer objects are to each other, the stronger their gravitational pull is.

Earth's gravity comes from all its mass. All its mass makes a combined gravitational pull on all the mass in your body. That's what gives you weight. And if you were on a planet with less mass than Earth, you would weigh less than you do here.

Image credit: NASA

You exert the same gravitational force on Earth that it does on you. But because Earth is so much more massive than you, your force doesn’t really have an effect on our planet.


Gravity in our universe

Gravity is what holds the planets in orbit around the sun and what keeps the moon in orbit around Earth. The gravitational pull of the moon pulls the seas towards it, causing the ocean tides. Gravity creates stars and planets by pulling together the material from which they are made.

Gravity not only pulls on mass but also on light. Albert Einstein discovered this principle. If you shine a flashlight upwards, the light will grow imperceptibly redder as gravity pulls it. You can't see the change with your eyes, but scientists can measure it.

Black holes pack so much mass into such a small volume that their gravity is strong enough to keep anything, even light, from escaping.


Gravity on Earth

Gravity is very important to us. We could not live on Earth without it. The sun's gravity keeps Earth in orbit around it, keeping us at a comfortable distance to enjoy the sun's light and warmth. It holds down our atmosphere and the air we need to breathe. Gravity is what holds our world together.

However, gravity isn’t the same everywhere on Earth. Gravity is slightly stronger over places with more mass underground than over places with less mass. NASA uses two spacecraft to measure these variations in Earth’s gravity. These spacecraft are part of the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission.

The GRACE mission helps scientists to create maps of gravity variations on Earth. Areas in blue have slightly weaker gravity and areas in red have slightly stronger gravity. Image credit: NASA/University of Texas Center for Space Research

GRACE detects tiny changes in gravity over time. These changes have revealed important details about our planet. For example, GRACE monitors changes in sea level and can detect changes in Earth’s crust brought on by earthquakes.


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How to Explain Gravity to a Child

Updated November 09, 2019

By Kevin Lee

"It makes things fall," children may answer if you ask what gravity does. They might have a little more trouble telling you what this enigmatic force actually is. Scientists don't fully understand it either, but in simple terms, gravity is an invisible attractive force that causes objects to move toward each other. However, Voyager 1, launched in 1977, has escaped earth's gravitational pull and is visible proof that what goes up doesn't necessarily have to come back down.

Mass vs. Weight

Every object has mass, a basic property that measures the amount of matter the object possesses. Unless an object approaches the speed of light, its mass does not change. As an object's mass increases, so does its gravitational pull.

That's why very large objects, such as the planet Jupiter, have a greater gravitational pull than the moon, which is a much smaller heavenly body. Tell children that they weigh more on Earth than they would on the moon because of the differences in gravity of those two objects.

Note that density can also play a role in your weight on a different planet. If the planet is less dense, then you can't get as close to the total gravitational pull of all of its mass. Take Saturn, for example. Despite the fact that Saturn's mass is almost 100 times that of Earth's, your weight on Saturn would be almost the same as it is on your home planet. This is because the density of Saturn is less than the density of water.

Glue That Binds the Solar System

Planets may look like tiny, twinkling stars to children, even though they're large objects that move through space under the influence of gravity. Enlighten children by showing them a scale model of the solar system or a picture of one that has the sun at its center.

Talk about how this star's massive gravitational pull draws the planets toward it, even though they never fall into the sun. Bodies in a solar system remain in orbit because of their motion around their star. If the sun disappeared suddenly, Earth and the other planets would fly off into space in different directions without the sun's gravity to hold them.

Earth's Gravity: A Formidable Force

Bring the discussion of orbits and gravity closer to home by describing how satellites orbit Earth the way Earth and its sister planets circle the sun. Because Earth is large and has mass, it has a strong gravitational field that causes objects to fall toward its center the same way a detached apple plummets to the ground from a tree.

The International Space Station – which the child may have seen on TV – is one popular example of an object moving quickly around the planet while falling at the same time. The moon is another body that falls around Earth about every 27 days. It's gravity along with the sun's pulls on earth's waters causing tides to occur.

The Mystery of the Orbiting Satellite Explained

If Earth's gravity pulls objects toward it, you'd think you'd see planets careening into the sun and satellites plummeting to Earth. That doesn't happen because objects in orbit move fast enough at right angles to the planet to "fall around" the body they're orbiting.

Help a child understand this important concept by asking him to spin something around his head on a string. The string – gravity – pulls the object toward the child while the object's forward motion – or velocity – pulls it outward and keeps it from being pulled all the way inward by the string. Ask the child to stop spinning the object and note how, without forward motion, the object eventually slows and falls.

Gravity Explained for Kids

Sir Issac Newton, a brilliant scientist, discovered many important things about gravity and motion. For instance, he found that the gravitational force between two objects is inversely proportional to the square of the distances between their centers. In other words, if a child stands on top of Mount Everest, the gravitational pull between her and the earth's center is less than when she stands on the ground.

Highly sensitive scales can detect minute differences in weight between an object that moves between two different altitudes. Objects also accelerate at a constant rate when they fall towards the earth. When a child drops an object from a tall building, it increases its speed as each second elapses.

How to explain gravity to a child - Science

Video: "Why do objects fall down?" / Educational cartoon for elementary grades Formula of the mind

Content

  • Masses against weight
  • Glue, which connects the solar system
  • Earth gravity: formidable force
  • The secret of the orbital satellite explained
  • Interesting facts about gravity

“This is forcing things fall", children can answer if you ask what gravity does. They may have a little more trouble telling you what this mysterious power really is. Scientists don't fully understand it either, but in simple terms, gravity is an invisible force of attraction that causes objects to move towards each other. However, Voyager 1, launched at 1977, has escaped the Earth's gravitational pull and is visible proof that what goes up doesn't have to come back down.

Mass versus weight

Every object has a mass, a basic property that measures the amount of matter an object possesses. If an object does not approach the speed of light, its mass does not change. As the mass of an object increases, so does its gravitational attraction. This is why very large objects, such as the planet Jupiter, have a greater gravitational pull than the moon, which is a much smaller celestial body. Tell the children that they weigh more on Earth than on the Moon because of the difference in gravity between the two objects.

Glue that binds the solar system

Planets can look like tiny twinkling stars to children, even if they are large objects that move through space under the influence of gravity. Enlighten the children by showing them a scale model of the solar system or a photograph of one with the sun at its center. Talk about how this star's massive gravitational pull pulls planets towards it, even if they never hit the sun. Bodies in the solar system remain in orbit due to their motion around their star. If the sun were to suddenly disappear, the Earth and other planets would fly off into space in different directions without the sun's gravity to hold them back.

Earth's gravity: a formidable force

Bring the discussion of orbits and gravity closer to home by describing how satellites revolve around the Earth the way the Earth and its sister planets revolve around the Sun. Because the Earth is large and has mass, it has a strong gravitational field that causes objects to fall towards its center in the same way that a severed apple falls to the ground from a tree. The International Space Station - which a child may have seen on TV - is one popular example of an object moving rapidly around the planet while falling at the same time. The Moon is another body that falls around the Earth approximately every 27 days. Its gravity, along with the suns, pulls the earth's waters, causing tides.

The secret of the orbiting satellite explained

If the Earth's gravity pulls objects towards it, you might think that you see planets leaving for the sun and satellites falling to Earth. This does not happen because objects in orbit are moving fast enough at right angles to the planet to "fall" around the body they are orbiting. Help your child understand this important concept by having him wrap something around his head with a string. The string - the force of gravity - pulls the object towards the child, while the object's forward motion or velocity - pulls it outward and keeps it from being fully pulled by the string inward. Ask the child to stop spinning the object and notice how, without moving forward, the object will eventually slow down and fall.

Interesting facts about gravity

Sir Issac Newton, a brilliant scientist, discovered many important things about gravity and motion. For example, he found that the gravitational force between two objects is inversely proportional to the square of the distance between their centers. In other words, if a child is standing on top of Mount Everest, the gravitational pull between her and the center of the earth is less than when she is standing on the ground. A highly sensitive balance can detect subtle differences in weight between an object that moves between two different heights. Objects also accelerate at a constant rate as they fall towards the ground. When a child throws an object from a tall building, it will increase its speed every second.

Gravity, what is it in simple words. Lesage's theory of gravity.

Contents

  1. Gravity, what is it in simple words. Lesage's theory of gravity.
  2. Gravity, what it really is. What is gravity
  • Fundamental force
  • Theory of relativity
  • Fun facts
  • Gravity, what is it How to explain. Interaction between elementary particles
  • Gravity, what is it simple. General concept of gravity
  • Gravitational interaction. Weak interaction.
    • Gravitational interaction.
  • Gravity, what is it How to explain to a child. What is gravity?
  • Gravity, what is it. Gravitational attraction
  • Video What is gravity
  • Causes of gravity. There are gaps in the theory of gravity - and this is a fact!
  • Gravity and gravity difference. The force of gravitational attraction
  • Gravity, what is it in simple words. Lesage's theory of gravity.

    In 1690, the Swiss mathematician Nicolas Fatio de duillier and in 1756 Georges Louis Lesage in Geneva proposed a simple kinetic theory of gravity, which provided a mechanical explanation for Newton's force equation. Due to the fact that Fatio's work was not widely known and remained unpublished for a long time, it was Le Sage's description of the theory that became a topic of increased interest at the end of the 19th century, when this theory was studied in the context of the newly discovered kinetic theory of gases
    . This mechanical explanation of gravity was never widely accepted, and by the beginning of the 20th century, the theory was generally considered disproved, mainly because of the problems raised by Maxwell, Poincaré. In addition, in the second decade of the 20th century, Albert Einstein created the general theory of relativity, although recognition came to it somewhat later. Although Le Sage's theory is still being studied by some researchers, it is not considered a viable theory by the mainstream scientific community.

    Basic theory.
    The theory states that the force of gravity is the result of tiny particles moving at high speed in all directions in the universe. The intensity of the particle flow is assumed to be the same in all directions, thus, an isolated object A is hit by particles from all sides, as a result of which it is subjected to pressure inside the object, but not subjected to a directional force P1.

    However, if a second object B is present, some of the particles that would otherwise hit object A from side B are intercepted, so B works as a screen, i. e. fewer particles will hit object A from the direction than from the opposite direction directions. Likewise, object B will be hit by fewer particles from side A than from the opposite side. That is, we can say that objects A and B "Shield" each other, and both bodies are pressed against each other by the resulting imbalance of forces (P2. Thus, the apparent attraction between the bodies in this theory is actually a reduced pressure on the body from the side other bodies for this reason, this theory is sometimes called "Push Gravity" or "shadow gravity", although the name "lesage gravity" is most common.0017

    The nature of collisions.
    Attention! Only if the collision of the body A and the gravitational particle is completely elastic, the intensity of the reflected particles will be as strong as that of the incoming particles, i.e., no net directional force will arise. This statement is also true if we introduce a second body B, which will act as a screen for gravitational particles in the direction of body A. A gravitational particle C, which would normally hit object A, is blocked in, but another particle D, which would not normally hit A is redirected by elastic reflection from object B to object A and therefore replaces C. thus, if the collision is fully elastic, the reflected particles between objects A and B completely cancel out any "shielding" effect. To explain the essence of the gravitational force, we must assume that the collision of particles is not completely elastic, or at least that the reflected particles slow down, that is, their momentum decreases after the collision. This will lead to the fact that a stream with a reduced momentum departs from object a, but a stream with an unchanged momentum arrives, thus a pure directed momentum appears towards the center of object A (P3. Only if this assumption is accepted, then the reflected particles in the case 2 interacting bodies do not fully compensate for the screening effect, due to the fact that the reflected flow is weaker than the flow incident on the body. 0017

    Inverse quadratic relationship.
    From our assumption that some (or all) gravitational particles converging on an object are absorbed or slowed down by this object, it follows that the intensity of the flow of gravitational particles emitted from a massive object is less than the intensity of the flow incident on this object. It can be assumed that this imbalance of the flow momentum and, accordingly, the force applied to any body near the object, is distributed over a spherical surface centered on this object (P4. The imbalance of the flow momentum over the entire spherical surface surrounding the object does not depend on the size of the surrounding sphere, while At the same time, the surface area of ​​a sphere increases in proportion to the square of the radius.Therefore, the imbalance of momentum per unit area decreases in inverse-square dependence on distance.

    Weight proportionality.
    From the facts shown above, a force arises that is directly proportional to the surface of the body only. But the force of gravity is also proportional to the masses. To satisfy the need for proportionality with mass, the theory states that: (a) the basic elements of matter are very small, and it mostly consists of empty space; b gravitational particles are so small that only a very small part of them is intercepted by matter. As a result, the "Shadow" of each body is directly proportional to the surface of each of the basic elements of matter. Only if we now assume that the elementary opaque (for gravitational particles) elements of all matter are identical (i.e., have the same ratio of density to surface), then it follows that the screening effect (at least approximately) is proportional to the mass (P5.

    Gravity, what it really is. What is Gravity

    Gravity (gravity) is the force that pulls two bodies together, the force that causes apples to fall towards the earth and planets to revolve around the sun. The more massive an object, the stronger its gravitational pull.

    Fundamental force

    Gravity is one of the four fundamental forces, along with electromagnetic, and strong and weak nuclear forces.

    This is what makes things have weight. When you weigh yourself, the scale tells you how much gravity is acting on your body. On Earth, gravity is 9.8 meters per second squared, or 9.8 m/s 2 .

    Philosophers such as Aristotle believed that heavier objects accelerate towards the earth faster. But later experiments showed that this was not the case. The reason a feather will fall more slowly than a bowling ball is due to air resistance, which acts in the opposite direction as the acceleration of gravity.

    Newton's law of universal gravitation states that the force of gravity is directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.

    Isaac Newton developed his theory of universal gravitation in the 1680s. He discovered that gravity acts on all matter and is a function of both mass and distance. Each object attracts another object with a force proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.

    Relativity

    Newton published his work on gravity in 1687, which was considered the best explanation until Einstein came up with his General Theory of Relativity in 1915. In Einstein's theory, gravity is not a force, but rather a consequence of the fact that matter is distorted in space-time. One of the predictions of General Relativity is that light will bend around massive objects.

    Fun Facts

    • The Moon has about 16 percent of Earth's gravity, Mars has about 38 percent of Earth's gravity, while the largest planet in the solar system, Jupiter, has 2.5 times Earth's gravity.
    • Although no one "discovered" gravity, legend has it that the famous astronomer Galileo Galilei did some of the earliest gravity experiments by dropping balls off the Leaning Tower of Pisa to see how fast they fell.
    • Isaac Newton was only 23 years old and returned from university when he noticed an apple falling in his garden and began to unravel the mysteries of gravity. (Perhaps it is a myth that an apple fell on his head.)
    • An early measure of Einstein's theory of relativity was to bend starlight near the Sun during a solar eclipse 29May 1919.
    • Black holes are massive objects with such strong gravity that not even light can escape them.
    • Einstein's general theory of relativity is incompatible with quantum mechanics, the bizarre laws that govern the behavior of tiny particles such as photons and electrons that make up the universe.

    Gravity, what is it How to explain. Interaction between elementary particles

    The incredible complexity of the space surrounding us is largely connected with an infinite number of elementary particles. There are also various interactions between them at levels that we can only guess at. However, all types of interaction of elementary particles among themselves differ significantly in their strength.

    The most powerful of all the forces known to us bind together the components of the atomic nucleus. To separate them, you need to spend a truly colossal amount of energy. As for the electrons, they are "attached" to the nucleus only by ordinary electromagnetic interaction. To stop it, sometimes the energy that appears as a result of the most ordinary chemical reaction is enough. Gravity (what it is, you already know) in the variant of atoms and subatomic particles is the easiest kind of interaction.

    The gravitational field in this case is so weak that it is difficult to imagine. Oddly enough, but it is they who “follow” the movement of celestial bodies, whose mass is sometimes impossible to imagine. All this is possible due to two features of gravity, which are especially pronounced in the case of large physical bodies:

    • In contrast to atomic forces, gravitational attraction is more noticeable at a distance from the object. So, the Earth's gravity keeps even the Moon in its field, and the similar force of Jupiter easily supports the orbits of several satellites at once, the mass of each of which is quite comparable to the Earth's!
    • In addition, it always provides attraction between objects, and with distance, this force weakens at a low speed.

    The formation of a more or less harmonious theory of gravitation occurred relatively recently, and precisely on the basis of the results of centuries-old observations of the motion of planets and other celestial bodies. The task was greatly facilitated by the fact that they all move in a vacuum, where there are simply no other possible interactions. Galileo and Kepler, two outstanding astronomers of the time, helped pave the way for new discoveries with their most valuable observations.

    But only the great Isaac Newton was able to create the first theory of gravity and express it in a mathematical representation. This was the first law of gravity, the mathematical representation of which is presented above.

    Gravity, what is it simple. General concept of gravity

    Gravity is a seemingly simple concept known to every person since the days of school. We all remember the story of how an apple fell on Newton's head and he discovered the law of universal gravitation. However, everything is not as simple as it seems. In that article we will try to give a clear and exhaustive answer to the question: what is gravity? And also consider the main myths and misconceptions about this interesting phenomenon.

    Simply put, gravity is the attraction between any two objects in the universe. Gravity can be determined by knowing the mass of bodies and the distance from one to the other. The stronger the gravitational field, the greater will be the weight of the body and the higher its acceleration. For example, on the Moon, the weight of an astronaut will be six times less than on Earth. The strength of a gravitational field depends on the size of the object it surrounds. So, the lunar force of gravity is six times lower than the earth. Isaac Newton first substantiated this scientifically and proved it with the help of mathematical calculations back in the 17th century.

    Gravitational interaction. Weak interaction.

    The weak interaction is one of the four fundamental interactions. The existence of such an interaction was indicated by the discovered instability of the neutron and some atomic nuclei. It is weaker than strong and electromagnetic, but stronger than gravitational. But in everyday life, the role of gravitational interaction is much greater than the weak one. It has to do with range. The gravitational interaction has rv~ ∞. Therefore, bodies located on the surface of the Earth are affected by gravitational attraction from all the atoms of the Earth. The radius of the weak interaction is very small, and is assumed to be ~ 10-16cm. (three orders of magnitude less than strong). But despite this weak interaction plays an important role in nature. If it were possible to “turn off” the weak interaction, then the Sun would go out, since the process of converting a proton into a neutron, positron and neutrino would not be possible:

    p → n + e + + ν , as a result of which four protons turn into helium. It is this process that serves as the source of energy for the Sun and other stars. Weak interaction processes with neutrino emission are especially important in the evolution of stars. If there were no weak interactions, muons, pimesons, strange and charmed particles, which decay as a result of strong interactions, would be stable and widespread in ordinary matter. The great role of weak interactions is due to the fact that it does not obey a number of prohibitions characteristic of the strong and electromagnetic interactions. In particular, it does not obey the parity conservation law.

    The most common process due to the weak interaction - β - the decay of radioactive nuclei. As a result of this process, an electron and a neutrino are born in the nucleus. The beginning of the study of weak interactions is the discovery by A. Becquerel in 1896 of natural radioactivity, that is, the spontaneous decay of uranium nuclei, accompanied by radiation. An analysis of this radiation showed that it consists of three types, one of which was called β - radiation, which later turned out to be a stream of electrons. Studies of the features of β-radiation, the ejection of electrons from nuclei that do not exist there, the continuous nature of their energy spectrum, the difficulty in fulfilling the spin conservation law led to the idea of ​​the existence of a special type of fundamental interaction that cannot be reduced to known interactions. This interaction is called weak.

    In modern physics, it is assumed that all known types of interactions are phenomena of the same nature and must be described in a unified way. (Great unification, Super unification). To date, a unified theory of weak and electromagnetic interactions has been developed.

    Gravitational interaction.

    Gravity, gravitation, gravitational interaction - a universal interaction between any kind of matter. The law of universal gravitation formulated by Newton is valid if the interaction is relatively weak and the bodies move at speeds much less than the speed of light. In the general case, gravity is described by Einstein's general theory of relativity as the effect of matter on the properties of four-dimensional space-time. These properties of space - time, in turn, affect the movement of bodies and other physical processes. This gravitation sharply differs from other fundamental interactions. But modern physics considers it possible that at very high energies all species combine into a single interaction.

    The hypothesis of gravity as a universal property of bodies appeared in antiquity and was revived in the 16th and 17th centuries in Europe. For example, I. Kepler argued that "gravity is the mutual aspiration of all bodies." Finally, in 1678, I. Newton in his famous work "Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy" gave a mathematical formulation of the law of universal gravitation. In this formulation, the law is applicable provided that the bodies can be taken as material points. The numerical value of the gravitational constant in 1798 was determined by G. Cavendish: G \u003d 6.6745 (8) * 10 -11 m 3 s -2 kg -1. The interaction of several bodies, subject to material points, is determined by the principle of superposition of forces. By the same principle, it is possible to determine the force of interaction of bodies of finite dimensions, if they are first broken into parts that can be considered as material points. According to formula (1), the gravitational force depends only on the position of the particles at a given time. This corresponds to the condition that the interaction propagates instantaneously. Taking into account the finite, but rather high speed of propagation of interactions, approved by modern physics, formula (1) can be applied at low speeds and for bodies located at not very large distances. This situation takes place for the bodies of the solar system.

    Gravity, what is it How to explain to a child. What is gravity?

    Gravity, or gravity, is the force of attraction between two particles of matter (or two objects) that keeps the planets in their orbits around the Sun or the Moon in its orbit around the Earth. (As the distance between two objects increases, their gravitational attraction decreases. ) Gravity is also the force that keeps any object on Earth or on any other celestial body, preventing it from flying into space. The larger an object, the stronger its gravitational pull, and vice versa. Since the Moon is much smaller than the Earth, its gravitational pull is only one-sixth that of our planet. That's why American astronauts on the moon could effortlessly move in big jumps.

    Gravity also explains why the Earth - and other planets and celestial bodies - are generally round. As our solar system formed, gravity pulled dust and gases flying through space together. When a large amount of matter gathers at the same time in one place, such matter forms a ball, since gravity pulls everything towards a central point. However, the Earth is not perfectly round. In the process of its rotation around its axis, an additional force arises, under the influence of which the Earth slightly “bulges” in the middle region.

    Gravity, what is it. Gravitational attraction

    Gravitational attraction is described by Newton, who states that the force of gravitational attraction between two material points of mass u, separated by a distance r{\displaystyle r}

    G{\displaystyle G} —, is equal to approximately 6. 67×10m³/(kg s²). This law is satisfied in the approximation at low velocities compared to the speed of light and weak gravitational interaction (if for the object under study located at a distance R{\displaystyle R} from a body of mass M{\displaystyle M} , the value is ). In general, gravity is described.

    The law of universal gravitation is one of the applications that also occurs in the study (see, for example), and is a direct consequence of the quadratic increase in area with increasing radius, which leads to a quadratic decrease in the contribution of any unit area to the area of ​​the entire sphere.

    The gravitational field, as well as the field. This means that it is possible to introduce the potential energy of the gravitational attraction of a pair of bodies, and this energy will not change after moving the bodies along a closed contour. The potentiality of the gravitational field entails the law of conservation of the sum of kinetic and potential energy, and when studying the motion of bodies in a gravitational field, it often greatly simplifies the solution. In the framework of Newtonian mechanics, the gravitational interaction is. This means that no matter how a massive body moves, at any point in space it depends only on the position of the body at a given moment in time.

    Large space objects - planets, stars and galaxies have a huge mass and, therefore, create significant gravitational fields.

    Gravity is the weakest interaction. However, since it operates at all distances and all masses are positive, it is nevertheless a very important force in the universe. In particular, the electromagnetic interaction between bodies on a cosmic scale is small, since the total electric charge of these bodies is zero (substance as a whole is electrically neutral).

    Also, gravity, unlike other interactions, is universal in its effect on all matter and energy. No objects have been found that have no gravitational interaction at all.

    Due to its global nature, gravity is responsible for such large-scale effects as the structure of galaxies, black holes and the expansion of the Universe, and for elementary astronomical phenomena - the orbits of planets, and for simple attraction to the Earth's surface and falling bodies.

    Gravity was the first interaction described by mathematical theory. (4th century BC) believed that objects with different masses fall at different speeds. And only much later (1589) experimentally determined that this is not the case - if air resistance is eliminated, all bodies accelerate equally. Isaac Newton's law of gravity (1687) was a good description of the general behavior of gravity. In 1915, Albert Einstein created a more accurate description of gravity in terms of space-time geometry.

    Video What is gravity

    Causes of gravity. There are gaps in the theory of gravity - and this is a fact!

    Any theory is imperfect, the theory of gravity is no exception

    The theory of gravity is imperfect, but some of its gaps are invisible from Earth. For example, according to the theory, the gravitational force of the Sun should be stronger on the Moon than on the Earth, but then the Moon would revolve around the Sun, and not around the Earth. By observing the movement of the Moon in the night sky, we can absolutely determine that it revolves around the Earth. At school we were also told about Isaac Newton, who discovered gaps in the theory of gravity. He also introduced the new mathematical term "fluxion", from which he later developed the theory of gravity. The concept of "fluxion" may seem unfamiliar, today it is called "function". One way or another, we all learn functions in school, but they are not without flaws. Therefore, it is likely that in Newton's "proofs" of the theory of gravity, too, not everything is so smooth.

    Gravity and gravity difference. The force of gravitational attraction

    The basic calculation is as follows - the force of gravity is proportional to the multiplication of the mass of the body by another, between which it is determined. This formula is also expressed as follows: the force is inversely proportional to the distance between objects squared.

    The gravitational field is potential, which means that kinetic energy is conserved.


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