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Gravitation

Gravitation is the force of attraction between any two objects with mass. It acts between all objects in the universe and is responsible for many phenomena we observe, like why objects fall toward the Earth and why planets orbit the Sun without crashing into each other. The strength of gravitational force depends on the masses of the objects and the distance between them, with greater masses and shorter distances resulting in stronger force. Gravitation is much weaker than other fundamental forces like electromagnetism.

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Oindri Mandal
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32 views

Gravitation

Gravitation is the force of attraction between any two objects with mass. It acts between all objects in the universe and is responsible for many phenomena we observe, like why objects fall toward the Earth and why planets orbit the Sun without crashing into each other. The strength of gravitational force depends on the masses of the objects and the distance between them, with greater masses and shorter distances resulting in stronger force. Gravitation is much weaker than other fundamental forces like electromagnetism.

Uploaded by

Oindri Mandal
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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GRAVITATION

What is Gravitation? Then why doesn’t


the earth fall on
the apple?
Then why don’t
• Force of attraction between any two objects having mass we roll towards
each other?
• Force with which earth pulls an object towards its centre is the gravitational pull of the
earth or the earth’s force of gravity

• Always acts in pairs –

Earth pulls the apple, apple too pulls the earth with same force!

• Non-contact in nature

• Its strength depends on:

❑ Product of the mass of the two objects – more it is , stronger the force

❑ distance between them - more the distance, weaker the force

• Thus, significant ONLY when at least one of the two objects is very heavy e.g., the force
between EARTH and any object (light or heavy)
Effects of gravitation

• Stability of objects

• Our daily activities (walking, running, jumping, sliding, pouring…)

• Falling of objects

• Stars, planets and moons NOT falling on each other !

• Tides

• Rain

• The very birth and existence of stars, planets and moons!


Gravitation is not that strong!

• Gravity is much weaker than the electromagnetic force.

• A bar magnet will electromagnetically pull a paper clip upward, overcoming the
gravitational force of the entire Earth on the clip.

• While gravity's effects can clearly be seen on the scale of things like planets, stars
and galaxies, the force of gravity between everyday objects is extremely difficult
to measure

• Physicists have calculated that gravity is 1040 (that’s the number 1 followed by 40
zeros) times weaker than electromagnetic force
Mass and Weight

Mass Weight

• Amount of matter in an object • The force of earth’s gravity


on an object

• Measured in kilograms (kg) or grams


(g) • Measured in newtons (N).
Weight (N) = mass (kg) X gravitational field
strength (N/kg)

• Is the same everywhere • Is different on different


planets or on moon (depends
on both how heavy and large
Though called a the planet is)
“weighing machine”,
this measures our
mass and NOT our
weight
Why doesn’t the moon fall on earth?

Why Doesn't the Moon Fall Down? | PBS LearningMedia


Further exploration:
- Galileo on the Moon | PBS LearningMedia
- https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/what-is-gravity/en/
Quiz!
• Strength of the gravitational force between 2 objects depend on:
• _______ of the two objects
• __________ between them

• If there’s more __________ between 2 objects, gravitational force between them will be
_________.

• Weight is a measure of ___________ while mass is a measure of the amount of _________


in an object.

• The gravitational pull of the moon is 6 times weaker than that of the earth. A person weighing
600 N on earth will weigh ____ N on moon.

• Weight of an object depends on the distance between the body and the centre of the earth.
So, a body will weigh slightly _________ at the poles than at the Equator. Also, it will weigh
slightly ______ on a mountain top than at sea level.

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