Gravity Introduction
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Gravity is the attractive pull between any two
objects. For instance, when an astronaut is on the moon she feels the pull
toward the center of the moon – not the center of Earth. |
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All objects have gravity. |
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Gravity depends on the mass of objects and the distance between them! |
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“…directly proportional to their masses” = Bigger objects exert more gravity than smaller ones.
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Jupiter exerts more gravity than Earth. |
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Small asteroids don’t have enough gravity to pull themselves into a round shape! |
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Larger planets with more gravity have smaller mountains. Planets with more gravity pull their peaks down. |
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Meanwhile, smaller planets with less gravity have larger
mountains. |
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“…inversely proportional to the square of their distance apart” = closer objects exert more gravity than objects that are far away. |
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Earth’s gravitational pull has more influence on us because we are close to earth.
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You weigh less when you fly at 35,000 feet above the Earth! This
is because the force of gravity is less. Your mass remains the same, however. |
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Mass = the amount of material in an object. |
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Weight = mass x gravity = 100 Kg x 9.8 m/s/s
= 980 |