 By Aiden Shiu
Newton (the man who discovered gravity) has identified many laws of physics. Some describe motion while others, like the law of universal gravitation, explains gravity universally. Newton’s law of universal gravitation states that,”... any particle of matter in the universe attracts any other with a force varying directly as the product of the masses and inversely as the square of the distance between them.” (www.britannica.com). You must have heard the story of Newton’s discovery of gravity. An apple fell from a tree and made him wonder. He knew that the apple’s acceleration/gravity was dependant on the apple’s mass. The force that pulled the apple downward also causes the Earth’s upward acceleration. In other words, the force must also depend on the Earth’s mass. According to www.physicsclassrom.com ,”... for Newton, the force of gravity acting between the earth and any other object is directly proportional to the mass of the earth, directly proportional to the mass of the object, and inversely proportional to the square of the distance that separates the centers of the earth and the object.” Newton’s law of universal gravitation doesn’t just cover gravity on Earth, it is universal. All objects will attract each other with a force of gravitational attraction. Just like the Moon orbits the Earth (due to its gravitational pull), the Earth orbits the Sun. Newton also created an equation for universal gravity. This equation is F = G*((m sub 1*m sub 2)/r^2),” … where F is the force of attraction between the two bodies, G is the universal gravitational constant, m sub 1 is the mass of the first object, m sub 2 is the mass of the second object and r is the distance between the centers of each object,” stated by www.study.com. With this equation we can solve many gravitational problems on Earth and anywhere else in the universe. In conclusion, Newton’s law of universal gravitation has helped shape the way physicist think about gravity. For example, Newton created an equation to show this and solve problems between the gravitational pull of two or more objects. The equation for it can solve many problems. For example, finding the gravitational attraction between two objects. Newton’s law of universal gravitation shows how gravity isn’t just a phenomenon that happens on Earth, it is a law that is apparent wherever you go in the universe because all objects will attract each other. Gravity is universal. Sources: https://www.britannica.com/science/Newtons-law-of-gravitation http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/circles/Lesson-3/Newton-s-Law-of-Universal-Gravitation https://study.com/academy/lesson/isaac-newtons-formula-for-the-force-of-gravity-definition-example.html Comments are closed.
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