The tendency of all bodies to approach one another with a strength proportion to the quantity of matter they contain -- the quantity of matter they contain being ascertained by the strength of their tendency to approach one another. This is a lovely and edifying illustration of how science, having made A the proof of B, makes B the proof of A.
That species of attraction or force by which all bodies or particles of matter in the universe tend toward each other; called also attraction of gravitation, universal gravitation, and universal gravity. See Attraction, and Weight.
One of the four fundamental forces of nature, the force by which two masses attract each other.
Traditionally, an attraction exerted by one object on the other objects in the universe. Albert Einstein, however believed that it is caused by the curvature of space time. For every day purposes, the first definition will do, though. GREATEST ELONGATION: When a planet is the furthest from the sun in the sky, usually making it the easiest to observe.
The natural force that attracts one object to another. The pull of gravitation depends on the mass of the objects and how close they are. The greater and closer the mass, the stronger the gravitational attraction. From the Latin gravitas, meaning “heavy.
A long range force that affects all particles. It is so weak that it is manifest only in microscopic objects.
Generally accepted explanation for observations of the attraction of matter for matter.
(physics) the force of attraction between all masses in the universe; especially the attraction of the earth's mass for bodies near its surface; "the more remote the body the less the gravity"; "the gravitation between two bodies is proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them"; "gravitation cannot be held responsible for people falling in love"--Albert Einstein
movement downward resulting from gravitational attraction; "irrigation by gravitation rather than by pumps"
a figurative movement toward some attraction; "the gravitation of the middle class to the suburbs"
A force manifested by acceleration toward each other of two free material particles or bodies, or of radiant-energy quanta.
Attractive force of Earth which causes all bodies in her atmosphere to move towards her center.
The attraction of object due to their masses.
In Newtonian terms, a force between masses that is characterized by their acceleration toward each other; the magnitude of the force depends directly on the product of the masses and inversely on the square of the distance between them; in Einstein's terms, the curvature of space-time.
(Also called gravity, force of gravitation.) The mutual attraction between bodies possessing mass. Within Newtonian mechanics the gravitational force between two point masses (bodies small in extent compared with , the distance between them) 1 and 2 is where the Newtonian constant of gravitation is 6.672 x 10−11 m3 kg s−2. This force is directed along the line between the two point masses. Forces between extended bodies can be determined by conceptually dividing them into sufficiently small parts, calculating the gravitational forces between them according to the previous equation, and adding these forces vectorially. The gravitational field intensity (or simply gravitational field) of a system of masses at any point is the gravitational force the system would exert on a unit mass at that point. Thus gravitational, electric, and magnetic fields are defined in a similar way. A gravitational field is an acceleration field, the acceleration due to (not of) gravity. See apparent gravity.
The mutual attraction between two masses of matter. The rotation of the earth and the atmosphere modifies this attraction to produce the field of gravity.
Gravitation is a phenomenon through which all objects attract each other. Modern physics describes gravitation using the general theory of relativity, but the much simpler Newton's law of universal gravitation provides an excellent approximation in many cases. Gravitation is the reason for the very existence of the Earth, the Sun, and every object in the universe; without it, matter would not have coalesced into masses and life would not exist.
In physics, Gravitation is a very important reference book on Einstein's theory of gravity by Charles W. Misner, Kip S. Thorne, and John Archibald Wheeler.
