9/7/2016

GravityWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Gravity
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Gravityorgravitationisanaturalphenomenonbywhichallthingswith
energyarebroughttoward(orgravitatetoward)oneanother,including
stars,planets,galaxiesandevenlightandsubatomicparticles.Gravityis
responsibleformanyofthestructuresintheUniverse,bycreatingspheres
ofhydrogenwherehydrogenfusesunderpressuretoformstarsand
groupingthemintogalaxies.OnEarth,gravitygivesweighttophysical
objectsandcausesthetides.Gravityhasaninfiniterange,althoughits
effectsbecomeincreasinglyweakeronfartherobjects.
Gravityismostaccuratelydescribedbythegeneraltheoryofrelativity
Hammerandfeatherdrop:Apollo15
(proposedbyAlbertEinsteinin1915)whichdescribesgravitynotasa
astronautDavidScottontheMoon
forcebutasaconsequenceofthecurvatureofspacetimecausedbythe
enactingthelegendofGalileo's
unevendistributionofmass/energyandresultingingravitationaltime
gravityexperiment.(1.38MB,
dilation,wheretimelapsesmoreslowlyinlower(stronger)gravitational
ogg/Theoraformat).
potential.However,formostapplications,gravityiswellapproximatedby
Newton'slawofuniversalgravitation,whichpostulatesthatgravitycauses
aforcewheretwobodiesofmassaredirectlydrawn(or'attracted')toeachotheraccordingtoamathematical
relationship,wheretheattractiveforceisproportionaltotheproductoftheirmassesandinverselyproportionalto
thesquareofthedistancebetweenthem.Thisisconsideredtooccuroveraninfiniterange,suchthatallbodies
(withmass)intheuniversearedrawntoeachothernomatterhowfartheyareapart.
Gravityistheweakestofthefourfundamentalinteractionsofnature.Thegravitationalattractionisapproximately
1038timesthestrengthofthestrongforce(i.e.gravityis38ordersofmagnitudeweaker),1036timesthestrength
oftheelectromagneticforce,and1029timesthestrengthoftheweakforce.Asaconsequence,gravityhasa
negligibleinfluenceonthebehaviorofsubatomicparticles,andplaysnoroleindeterminingtheinternalproperties
ofeverydaymatter(butseequantumgravity).Ontheotherhand,gravityisthedominantinteractionatthe
macroscopicscale,andisthecauseoftheformation,shape,andtrajectory(orbit)ofastronomicalbodies.Itis
responsibleforvariousphenomenaobservedonEarthandthroughouttheuniverseforexample,itcausestheEarth
andtheotherplanetstoorbittheSun,theMoontoorbittheEarth,theformationoftides,andtheformationand
evolutionofgalaxies,starsandtheSolarSystem.
Inpursuitofatheoryofeverything,themergingofgeneralrelativityandquantummechanics(orquantumfield
theory)intoamoregeneraltheoryofquantumgravityhasbecomeanareaofresearch.

Contents
1 Historyofgravitationaltheory
1.1 Scientificrevolution
1.2 Newton'stheoryofgravitation
1.3 Equivalenceprinciple
1.4 Generalrelativity
1.4.1 Solutions
1.4.2 Tests
1.5 Gravityandquantummechanics
2 Specifics
2.1 Earth'sgravity
2.2 EquationsforafallingbodynearthesurfaceoftheEarth
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GravityWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

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2.2 EquationsforafallingbodynearthesurfaceoftheEarth
2.3 Gravityandastronomy
2.4 Gravitationalradiation
2.5 Speedofgravity
Anomaliesanddiscrepancies
Alternativetheories
4.1 Historicalalternativetheories
4.2 Modernalternativetheories
Seealso
Footnotes
References
Furtherreading
Externallinks

Historyofgravitationaltheory
Scientificrevolution
ModernworkongravitationaltheorybeganwiththeworkofGalileoGalileiinthelate16thandearly17th
centuries.Inhisfamous(thoughpossiblyapocryphal[1])experimentdroppingballsfromtheTowerofPisa,and
laterwithcarefulmeasurementsofballsrollingdowninclines,Galileoshowedthatgravitationalaccelerationisthe
sameforallobjects.ThiswasamajordeparturefromAristotle'sbeliefthatheavierobjectshaveahigher
gravitationalacceleration.[2]Galileopostulatedairresistanceasthereasonthatobjectswithlessmassmayfall
slowerinanatmosphere.Galileo'sworksetthestagefortheformulationofNewton'stheoryofgravity.

Newton'stheoryofgravitation
In1687,EnglishmathematicianSirIsaacNewtonpublishedPrincipia,which
hypothesizestheinversesquarelawofuniversalgravitation.Inhisownwords,
"Ideducedthattheforceswhichkeeptheplanetsintheirorbsmust[be]
reciprocallyasthesquaresoftheirdistancesfromthecentersaboutwhichthey
revolve:andtherebycomparedtheforcerequisitetokeeptheMooninherOrb
withtheforceofgravityatthesurfaceoftheEarthandfoundthemanswer
prettynearly."[3]Theequationisthefollowing:

WhereFistheforce,m1andm2arethemassesoftheobjectsinteracting,ris
SirIsaacNewton,anEnglish
physicistwholivedfrom1642to
1727

thedistancebetweenthecentersofthemassesandGisthegravitational
constant.

Newton'stheoryenjoyeditsgreatestsuccesswhenitwasusedtopredictthe
existenceofNeptunebasedonmotionsofUranusthatcouldnotbeaccounted
forbytheactionsoftheotherplanets.CalculationsbybothJohnCouch
AdamsandUrbainLeVerrierpredictedthegeneralpositionoftheplanet,andLeVerrier'scalculationsarewhat
ledJohannGottfriedGalletothediscoveryofNeptune.

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