What is Gravity? | Definition, Types, Formula & Examples
What is Gravity?
Gravity is the mysterious force that brings everything down to Earth. But what is it? Turns out everything has gravity. It’s just that some objects, like the Earth and the Sun, have a much greater gravitational pull than others.
Why is Gravity Important to us?
Who discovered Gravity?
The first person to drop a heavy object on their toe knew something was up, but gravity was first described mathematically by scientist Isaac Newton. His theory is known as Newton’s Law of Gravity. Later, Albert Einstein would make some improvements to this theory in his theory of relativity.
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What is Weight?
Weight is the force of gravity on an object. Our weight on Earth is the force Earth’s gravity exerts on us and the force it pulls us to the surface.
Do objects fall at the same speed?
Yes, this is called the principle of equivalence. Objects with different masses will fall to Earth at the same speed. If you bring two balls of different masses to the top of a building and drop them on the ground, they will hit the ground at the same time. In fact, there is a specific acceleration at which all objects fall, called standard gravity, or “g”. This equates to 9,807 meters per second squared (m/s2).
Interesting Facts about Gravity
Ocean tides are caused by the moon’s gravity.
Mars is smaller and less massive than Earth. As a result, it has less gravity. If you weighed 100 pounds on Earth, you would weigh 38 pounds on Mars.
The standard gravity of the Earth is a force of 1 g. When riding a roller coaster, sometimes you can feel more g-forces.
Maybe up to 4 or 5 g. Fighter pilots or astronauts can sense more than that.