Do you know the recipe of becoming an individual who’s remembered for the ages? You need to create or discover something that can change the way the society lives. Sir Isaac Newton was one such person whose work made him unforgettable.
What he did was discovered a force called Gravity. And here, we are going to understand gravity in detail.
You might already be aware of the fact that gravity is a force that keeps us on the ground (like literally).
Any object that has mass will have gravitational force. This object attracts other objects with mass towards itself. Simply put, everything in the universe with mass is attracting everything
Yes, even you are pulling on that star you saw yesterday. But because that star is around five light years away from you and your mass is almost negligible when compared to the star, the force is also negligible.
It is the gravity that holds galaxies together. And, it is the gravity that makes the Earth revolves around the Sun. It might come as a surprise that gravity is the weakest force, even though it balances all the heavy objects in the universe. If you have any doubt, try pulling a cup from your table. We are sure you can do it easily. This is because gravity is not pulling the cup so strongly.
Is there a way to identify the gravitational force between two objects? There is a formula through which you can accurately calculate this force:
F = Gm1m2/r2
F is gravitational force of attraction that we need to identify.
G is a gravitational constant with a value of 6.673 x 10-11 Nm2/kg2
m1 is the mass of the first object
m2 is the mass of the second object
R is the distance between the two objects
The unit of this force calculated is Newtons. See, a unit of measurement can be named after you if you have done something spectacular in science.
Have you ever thought of escaping the gravitational pull of earth? Any object that wants to leave the gravitational pull has to travel at a rate of seven miles per second. This is the escape velocity of our planet. Each planet has its unique escape velocity that depends on its mass.
Now that we have studied gravity, let’s have a look at another related concept: the centre of gravity.
An imaginary point in an object where the weight is concentrated is referred to as the centre of gravity. The earth’s centre of gravity is located at its centre. Well, it is not necessary that centre of gravity will be at the geometric centre. An asymmetrical object will have a centre of gravity situated away from its geometric centre.
Fun Fact: At these mysterious places on the Earth, gravity doesn’t work:
- St. Ignace Mystery Spot (Michigan)
- Cosmos Mystery Area (South Dakota)
- Confusion Hill (California)
- Magnetic Hill (Orroroo, Australia)
- Mysterious Road (Jeju, South Korea)
And scientists don’t know why!!!
We hope that we were able to enhance your understanding of gravity. Imagine learning this and numerous other concepts by doing simple and fun experiments. At Neorobos, the trainers use various educational kits to teach these topics in the simplest possible manner through its STEM education courses at its academy and schools of Delhi.
The students also learn about energy transformation, friction, use of gears, and other concepts that usually look confusing.