The Earth has the gravity of 9.8 m/s2 . The moon has 6 times less than the Earth has. Now, I just want to know whether the gravity changes with respect to the increase in height or will it just change depending upon the radius of the planet or say it any object that has very high mass. Should the object be of definite shape or not ?
2006-10-01 15:34:10 · 8 answers · asked by Inshan 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
I think the Earth exerts it's gravitational pull all over the atmosphere and it is a constant ie a=F/M.
The atmosphere extends to about 320km from the earth's surface.
No gravitational force is exerted/felt beyond this point/distance.
Shape of objects is irrelevant, only Mass counts.
2006-10-01 15:45:59 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Gravity is determined by the mass of an object and its distance from other mass objects. An object without mass cannot effect or be effected by gravity.
The 9.8 meters per second per second is the force of gravity on objects near the surface of the Earth. Although they are different masses, the difference is negligible compared to the Earth. Farther out, the gravity is less, but at 1/4 million miles, it still keeps the moon in orbit. Further out, the pull is even less, until it is so weak that it has virtually no effect.
It might help to imagine space as a huge, rubber sheet with stars, planets and asteroids resting on it. The more massive an object, the lower it sinks into the rubber sheet. Anything that rolls by another object will be drawn toward that object if it crosses into the area where the rubber is being deflected by the weight of the other object, and the closer it gets, the deeper the deflection and the greater the attraction.
Gravity works like that. That's why, all other things being equal, the closer an object is to a body like Earth, the faster it has to move to stay in orbit. So a space station at 150 miles takes 90 minutes to orbit Earth, geosynchronous satellites at 22500 miles take 24 hours and the moon takes 29 1/2 days.
2006-10-01 22:55:43 · answer #2 · answered by skepsis 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Here`s the formula, it will answer all the possible questions you have I hope.
F = GmM/r^2
where F is the force, G Newton`s gravitational constant, 6. something time 10^-11 m is the mass of the object that is being attracted by this force, M is the mass of the object applying the force (earth), r is the distance you are from the center of mass.
If you want the force to be 0, you need the distance to be infinite. PLug in the numbers and you`ll see.
2006-10-01 22:39:43 · answer #3 · answered by jerryjon02 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Gravity will be affected by your distance from the center of mass. If the earth had a larger radius (but the same mass), at the surface, you would be further from the center of mass, so your weight would be less. If it had a smaller radius, at the surface, you would be closer to the center of mass so gravity would be stronger.
2006-10-02 00:21:46 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
The gravity 9.8 is at the surface of the earth. It is zero at the center and increase to 9.8 at the surface. Then it is decreasing and proportional to 1/r2 where r is the distance. It is also proportional to the mass of the planet.
2006-10-01 23:31:54 · answer #5 · answered by Dr M 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I'm not sure, but gravity doesn't pull objects towards the earth's core, it actually pushes them down. It's the strongest and yet weakest force, since we easily break it's grip, whenever we want to move around.
2006-10-01 22:40:45 · answer #6 · answered by supurdna 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Theoretically, the effects of gravity of the Earth will be felt up to infinity. Of course @ infinity the magnitude would be very negligible.
2006-10-01 22:40:39 · answer #7 · answered by harsh_bkk 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
That's a very good question. From the looks of things, you are a self-taught analytical genius, except for the answer.
2006-10-01 22:41:04 · answer #8 · answered by farack 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋