What Is the Universal Law of Gravitation in Simple Terms

Yet a number of authors have more to say about what Newton gained from Hooke, and some aspects remain controversial. [9] The fact that most of Hooke`s private papers were destroyed or disappeared does not help establish the truth. Newton`s law has since been replaced by Albert Einstein`s theory of general relativity, but continues to be used in most applications as an excellent approximation of the effects of gravity. The theory of relativity is only needed when extreme precision is required or when it involves very strong gravitational fields, such as those found near extremely massive and dense objects or at small distances (such as Mercury`s orbit around the Sun). Electromagnetic waves, or rays of light, are deflected by gravity, especially when they pass through a large mass such as the sun. However, Newton`s law calculations give only half of the deviation actually observed by astronomers. Since ancient times, scientists and philosophers have studied gravity and later gravity. Isaac Newton formalized the observations in a scientific law: the law of universal gravity, which states that all objects of mass are attracted to other objects of mass due to a force called gravity. The solution to the problem is to replace the known values of G (6.673 x 10-11 N m2/kg2), m1 (5.98 x 1024 kg), m2 (70 kg) and d (6.38 x 106 m) in the universal gravitational equation and solve them for Fgrav.

Thus, Hooke postulated mutual gravitational attractions between the sun and the planet, in a way that increased with the proximity of the attractive body, as well as a principle of linear inertia. The gravitational field is located on, inside and outside symmetrical masses. In Newton`s law of gravity, we found that mass is a decisive quantity. We consider that mass and weight are identical, but in reality they are different. Weight is the gravitational force exerted on an object of a certain mass. The weight of the object can be obtained by multiplying the mass of the object m by the acceleration due to gravity g on the surface of the Earth. The measured acceleration due to gravity at the Earth`s surface is about 980 cm/second/second. The constant proportionality (G) in the above equation is called the universal gravitational constant. Henry Cavendish experimentally determined the exact value of G.

The value of G is G = 6.673 x 10-11 N m2/kg2. Today, Newton`s law of universal gravity is a widely accepted theory. It guides scientists` efforts in the study of planetary orbits. Knowing that all objects exert gravitational influences on each other, small perturbations in the elliptical motion of a planet can be easily explained. When the planet Jupiter approaches the planet Saturn in its orbit, it tends to deviate from its otherwise smooth orbit; This deviation or perturbation can be easily explained by considering the effect of the gravitational pull between Saturn and Jupiter. Newton`s comparison of the acceleration of the apple with that of the moon led to a surprisingly simple conclusion about the nature of gravity woven into the entire universe. All objects attract each other with a force directly proportional to the product of their mass and inversely proportional to their distance. This implies that the so-called speed of gravity (also recklessly called the speed of gravity) is infinite. It seems counterintuitive. Newton`s law of universal gravity can be written as a vector equation to account for the direction of gravitational force as well as its magnitude. In this formula, the amounts in bold represent vectors. In 1687, Isaac Newton combined his observations with other scientists` theories of gravity and gravity into a scientific law: the law of universal gravitation.

This law states that the mass of an object is attracted to the mass of other objects by a force called gravity. The second conceptual comment that needs to be made on the above calculation examples is that using Newton`s universal gravitational equation to calculate gravity (or weight) gives the same result as when calculating with the equation of unit 2: The story that Newton was sitting under a tree when he was hit on the head by a falling apple, That he discovers gravity is a fable.