Gravitation is a natural phenomenon by which all objects with mass attract each other. In everyday life, gravitation is most familiar as the agency that endows objects with weight. It is responsible for keeping the Earth and the other planets in their orbits around the Sun; for keeping the Moon in its orbit around the Earth, for the formation of tides; for convection (by which hot fluids rise); for heating the interiors of forming stars and planets to very high temperatures; and for various other phenomena that we observe. Gravitation is also the reason for the very existence of the Earth, the Sun, and most macroscopic objects in the universe; without it, matter would not have coalesced into these large masses and life, as we know it, would not exist.
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 most cases.
In scientific usage gravitation and gravity are distinct. "Gravitation" is the attractive influence that all objects exert on each other, while "gravity" specifically refers to a force which all massive objects (objects with mass) are theorized to exert on each other to cause gravitation. Although these terms are interchangeable in everyday use, in theories other than Newton's, gravitation is caused by factors other than gravity. For example in general relativity, gravitation is due to spacetime curvatures which causes inertially moving objects to tend to accelerate towards each other. Another (discredited) example is Le Sage's theory of gravitation, in which massive objects are effectively pushed towards each other.
2007-10-25 06:05:55
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answer #1
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answered by DanE 7
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You can read and freely download a chapter on Gravitation from my free educational website www.schoolnotes4u.com covering physics and mathematics of XI and XII Grades. Physics Theory XI Grade contains the chapter. You can save or print out whatever information you need. You can even send me an e-mail by clicking on 'contact' on the website for any specific question which I shall try to reply to the point. All my services are free.
2007-10-25 22:01:57
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answer #2
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answered by Madhukar 7
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Basically the mechanism of Gravitation is not quite understood by the World of Physics. Newton formulated the idea of force between two gravitationally interacting masses.And discovered the Universal Gravitational constant which we describe as the SymBol "G" . The dimensions of "G" are expressed as The product of an Inverse densisty of a mass and the frequency square of the moving mass in the field of Gravity.
Albert Einstein indicated in his LeIpzig Uninversity lecture in 1920 that there existed substance of space that both caused gravity and magnetism which at that time He Called "Aether."
However he only described the relationship of the of space structure and the its pressure as a Field Equation .
This Field Equation which stemmed out of his theory of General Relativity was to relate the intensity of a Gravity field relative to a particular magnetude of mass structure.This Curvature of space in the presence of mass divided by the stress energy tensor of space was discovereded to be proportionall to Newton Gravity constant "G". So Einstein described Gravity force in terms of the distortion of space structure(space pressure ) as a curvature tensor of the substance of space.
However even though the relationship of interaction between masses was formulated in terms of Equations of gravity force ,neither Einstein nor Newton established a mechanism for the Gravitational phenomena.
Presently Prof. Ricardo L. Carezani is one of the scientists(besides the late louis LeSage and Factio)that offers a workable mechanism of the Gavitational Phenomena.
The Mechanism of Gavity is outlined in His Theory of Autodynamics.
However in simple terms ,Gravity is what is responsible for holding all ceslestial bpies together in the shape we observe them to be inlcuding our own Human bodY.
We stick to the Ground because of the Gravity mechanism.
2007-10-25 06:45:29
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answer #3
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answered by goring 6
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