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Describe Gravity

  • Page ID
    185363
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    space-1251733_960_720_5749b0156d0d4.jpg

    image from Pixabay

    It turns out that gravity can be described as either a theory or a law.

    Law:

    Every time I pick up something and let it og, it falls to the ground. This is repeatable and I can masure the rate of fall through equations. Acceleration due to gravity: 

    g = 9.8 m/s/s, downward
    ( ~ 10 m/s/s, downward)

     

    Theory:

    Just two ways to explain gravity (there are more out there) (very simplified):

    • Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation - Two masses exert a pull on each other. This gets stronger as they get closer together. 
    • Einstein's Space-time - Space-time is like a fabric, as masses sit on it, it bends, pulling other objects towards the mass. 

     

    In this session, we will exlore the effects of gravity on the Sun-Earth-Moon system. 

     

     

     


    Describe Gravity is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

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