Physics/Gravity: Difference between revisions
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Revision as of 06:10, 6 March 2001
Gravity is one of the four fundamental forces in physics, along with [Electromagnetism], the [WeakNuclearForce] and the [StrongNuclearForce]. Two of history's greatest physicists, Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein, are mostly famous for studying gravity.
Isaac Newton's laws of gravity are very simple, yet when combined with his laws of motion explain the motion of both the planets around the sun and objects here on earth. Newton's law for the gravitational force between two masses M1 and M2 is
Fgrav=G*M1M2/R2
where R is the distance between them and G is the Gravitational constant, which has a value of 6.672*10-11 meters3/(seconds2*kilograms).
Einstein's theory of gravity is known as [GeneralRelativity], which involves curved space-time, is really complicated, and agrees with Newton's theory in most circumstances to about a dozen decimals places.