Gravitation

Newton defined gravity as a force -- one that attracts all objects to all other objects. It causes any two objects in the universe to be drawn to one another. Gravity assisted in forming the universe, that it keeps the moon in orbit around the Earth.

Gravitation

Gravitation is the force of attraction that acts between all objects because of their mass. An object's mass is its amount of matter. Because of gravitation, an object that is near Earth falls toward the surface of the planet. An object that is already on the surface experiences a downward force due to gravitation. We experience this force on our bodies as our weight. Gravitation holds together the hot gases that make up the sun, and it keeps the planets in their orbits around the sun. Another term for gravitation is the force of gravity.

People misunderstood gravitation for centuries. In the 300's B.C., the Greek philosopher and scientist Aristotle taught the incorrect idea that heavy objects fall faster than light objects. People accepted that idea until the early 1600's, when the Italian scientist Galileo corrected it. Galileo said that all objects fall with the same acceleration unless air resistance or some other force acts on them. An object's acceleration is the rate of change of its velocity (speed in a particular direction). Thus, a heavy object and a light object that are dropped from the same height will reach the ground at the same time

Black holes

Einstein's theory predicts the existence of objects called black holes. A black hole is a region of space whose gravitational force is so strong that not even light can escape from it. Researchers have found strong evidence that most very massive stars eventually evolve into black holes, and that most large galaxies have a gigantic black hole at their centers.

Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy published - 1687

in 1665 newton was 23 years old

Introduction to Free Fall

A free-falling object is an object which is falling under the sole influence of gravity. Any object which is being acted upon only be the force of gravity is said to be in a state of free fall. There are two important motion characteristics which are true of free-falling objects:

• Free-falling objects do not encounter air resistance.

• All free-falling objects (on Earth) accelerate downwards at a rate of 9.8 m/s/s (often approximated as 10 m/s/s for back-of-the-envelope calculations)