Knowra Gravitational force Gravitational force Gravitational force is the interaction by which masses attract one another in Newtonian physics. In general relativity, gravity is described instead as the curvature of spacetime produced by mass and energy.
Newton's law of universal gravitation : A law stating that any two masses attract with force proportional to their masses and inversely proportional to their separation squared. It gives the classical quantitative rule for gravitational attraction between two masses.
Mass : A physical quantity measuring an object's inertia and, in gravity, its role as a source of gravitational interaction. Mass determines both the strength of Newtonian attraction and the curvature associated with matter.
Free fall : Motion under gravity alone, with no other force such as air resistance affecting the body. It isolates gravitational acceleration and illustrates weightlessness in orbit.
Electromagnetism : The fundamental interaction governing electric charge, electric fields, magnetic fields, and electromagnetic radiation. Unlike gravity, it can attract or repel and is vastly stronger between elementary particles.
General relativity : Einstein’s theory of gravity, describing gravitation through spacetime curvature caused by mass, energy, and momentum. It replaces gravitational force with curved spacetime as the fundamental description.
Force : An interaction that can change an object's motion, represented in classical mechanics by a vector quantity. Newtonian gravity is one specific force within classical mechanics.
Orbital mechanics : The study of the motion of bodies in orbit under gravitational influence. Gravitational attraction supplies the centripetal acceleration that sustains an orbit.
Coulomb's law : The inverse-square law giving the electrostatic force between two electric charges. Its mathematical form resembles Newtonian gravity, but charge can have either sign.
Gravitational field : A vector field that assigns gravitational acceleration to each point in space. It represents the influence of a source mass throughout the surrounding space.
Acceleration : The rate at which velocity changes with time. A gravitational force produces acceleration, while free fall reveals gravity’s characteristic acceleration.
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