Gravity

It’s easy to overlook gravity in our daily lives, but it has a profound effect on how we interact with the rest of the world. Our heart, muscles, and balancing system are all dependent on it. One of the most basic laws of nature is gravity. Let’s have a look at what gravity is and how it affects humans.

Definition of Gravity

Every mass has a gravitational pull or force on every other mass, and this is true for all objects. This attraction is determined by the mass of the items involved. Earth and the moon revolve around each other because of gravity. As a result, gravity is defined as: to put it simply, gravity is the gravitational force that pulls a body toward the centre of the earth or any other physical object with mass.

Gravity’s Evolution

Sir Isaac Newton made the discovery of gravity in 1687. He saw an apple fall from the tree while he sat there. Then he tried to figure out why the apple didn’t go up, left, or right, but instead sank to the bottom of the table. Newton’s law of universal gravitation states that an unknown force is at work in this condition, and that force is what he dubbed gravity. It was in the early 20th century that Albert Einstein came up with a new theory of gravity. It is his belief that gravity is nothing more than the distorting influence of space and time.

Newtonian Gravity

Once we’ve established what gravity is, it’s time to examine how gravity contributes to the survival of life on Earth. Since the earth and sun are pulled in opposite directions by their gravitational fields, the atmosphere remains stable and provides us with the air we need to survive. As a bonus, it shields us from the sun, allowing us to bask in its warmth and light without risking injury

The following is Sir Isaac Newton’s definition of gravity’s force:

All the particles in the cosmos have a force. It is directly proportional to the product of their masses. However, the distance between them is inversely proportional.

Because the force is attractive, it will always be directed toward the other object. This equation provides the magnitude of this force. We can conclude from the preceding equation that everything with mass has a gravitational pull. Gravity is inversely proportional to mass. The stronger the gravitational pull between two objects, the closer they are. Distance reduces the strength of gravity. 

Gravity examples

• Gravity holds the sun’s gases together.
• Water does not float on the surface of the glass but rather sinks to the bottom of it due to gravity.
• The tides in the ocean are caused by the gravitational pull between the Earth and the Moon.
• The moon goes around the earth in a ring due to gravity.

All objects are affected by gravity in the same way. Iron and feathers fall at the same rate if dropped from the same height. It may appear like the iron rod is falling faster because of the effect of air resistance on gravity. Vacuum-dropping all would cause them to fall at exactly the same time. The mass of an object has a direct relationship to its gravitational pull. To be more precise, an object’s Gravity is determined by its mass. Being the weakest known force in nature, it has no bearing on the inside of common materials.

Gravity’s Effect on Weight

Gravitational pull is the force that pulls a body toward the earth, and this is what we mean when we talk about weight. Weight is a universal force that affects all objects that come into contact with the Earth’s surface. If you want to figure out how much anything weighs, simply multiply its weight in grams by the acceleration it experiences due to gravity (g = 9.8 m/s2).

It can be expressed numerically as follows:

In this equation, Fg = Mg.

Where,

Fg is the gravitational force 

M is the object’s mass in kilograms.

g is Gravitational acceleration

It’s important to remember that mass is a measure of an object’s resistance to motion, called inertia. Even though they are nearly connected, they have different meanings. The mass is measured in kilograms, while the weight is measured in Newtons.

Important Facts

There are four known fundamental forces in physics, and gravity is the weakest of the four. As the weakest force, gravity keeps the entire solar system and galaxy together. No matter where you are on the planet’s surface, the speed of free fall stays constant. Everything falls at the same rate. 

• Your mass exerts an attractive force on the Earth.
• To escape the gravitational pull of the Earth, an object must travel at a speed of 11.2 metre per second, or the escape velocity of the Earth.
• The moon’s gravitational pull is only about 16 percent as strong as Earth’s, Mars’ is around 38 percent stronger, and Jupiter’s pull is 2.5 times as strong as Earth’s.

Final Words

Aside from electromagnetic, strong, and weak nuclear forces, gravity is one of the four fundamental forces of the universe. Gravity, despite its importance in preventing our feet from leaping off the ground, remains a mystery to scientists. According to Newton, the gravitational pull between the sun and the planets causes all objects to attract one another, just as the sun pulls the planets toward each other.

According to Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation, the gravitational pull between two objects is inversely equal to the square of their respective masses. According to Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation, the force of gravity is directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between the two objects.