GRAVITATION
What is Gravitation? Then why doesn’t
the earth fall on
the apple?
Then why don’t
• Force of attraction between any two objects having mass we roll towards
each other?
• Force with which earth pulls an object towards its centre is the gravitational pull of the
earth or the earth’s force of gravity
• Always acts in pairs –
Earth pulls the apple, apple too pulls the earth with same force!
• Non-contact in nature
• Its strength depends on:
❑ Product of the mass of the two objects – more it is , stronger the force
❑ distance between them - more the distance, weaker the force
• Thus, significant ONLY when at least one of the two objects is very heavy e.g., the force
between EARTH and any object (light or heavy)
Effects of gravitation
• Stability of objects
• Our daily activities (walking, running, jumping, sliding, pouring…)
• Falling of objects
• Stars, planets and moons NOT falling on each other !
• Tides
• Rain
• The very birth and existence of stars, planets and moons!
Gravitation is not that strong!
• Gravity is much weaker than the electromagnetic force.
• A bar magnet will electromagnetically pull a paper clip upward, overcoming the
gravitational force of the entire Earth on the clip.
• While gravity's effects can clearly be seen on the scale of things like planets, stars
and galaxies, the force of gravity between everyday objects is extremely difficult
to measure
• Physicists have calculated that gravity is 1040 (that’s the number 1 followed by 40
zeros) times weaker than electromagnetic force
Mass and Weight
Mass Weight
• Amount of matter in an object • The force of earth’s gravity
on an object
• Measured in kilograms (kg) or grams
(g) • Measured in newtons (N).
Weight (N) = mass (kg) X gravitational field
strength (N/kg)
• Is the same everywhere • Is different on different
planets or on moon (depends
on both how heavy and large
Though called a the planet is)
“weighing machine”,
this measures our
mass and NOT our
weight
Why doesn’t the moon fall on earth?
Why Doesn't the Moon Fall Down? | PBS LearningMedia
Further exploration:
- Galileo on the Moon | PBS LearningMedia
- https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/what-is-gravity/en/
Quiz!
• Strength of the gravitational force between 2 objects depend on:
• _______ of the two objects
• __________ between them
• If there’s more __________ between 2 objects, gravitational force between them will be
_________.
• Weight is a measure of ___________ while mass is a measure of the amount of _________
in an object.
• The gravitational pull of the moon is 6 times weaker than that of the earth. A person weighing
600 N on earth will weigh ____ N on moon.
• Weight of an object depends on the distance between the body and the centre of the earth.
So, a body will weigh slightly _________ at the poles than at the Equator. Also, it will weigh
slightly ______ on a mountain top than at sea level.