The Basics of Newtonian Mechanics - the Scientia Review

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Gravity Equation F G = Gm 1m 2 r 2 This is the equation that can be used to calculate the force of gravity, represented by F G . The G in this equation is called the gravitational constant. It is approximately 6.67 x 10^-11. This is an extremely small number (0.00000000000667), which means that the forces of gravity between objects are generally very small. Each m in the equation represents a mass. When this equation is used, it must be known what two objects the force is being calculated for, and these masses must be known. The larger the mass, the more the force of gravity. The r is the distance between the two objects (it stands for radius). Because the rest of the equation is divided by this one term, it severely affects the force. Objects that are very far away from each other have virtually no force of gravity affecting them. 17
F=ma and Gravity Using Newton's second law, the acceleration of earth's gravity on our bodies can be calculated. We know that F=ma and that F G = Gm 1m 2 r 2 . We can combine these two equations to make ma= Gm 1m 2 . The first m and the r 2 m 1 are equal, this means that they cancel out in this equation to make a= Gm 2 . If you put in the gravitational r 2 constant (G), mass of the earth (m 2 ), and the radius of earth (r), then you could calculate the acceleration caused by gravity. This has been done and tested by scientists to show that gravity causes an acceleration of about 9.8m/s 2 . The interesting part of this acceleration is that it is the exact same for all of the objects on earth. This means that if you drop a really heavy object and a really light object off a building, then they Two balls of different masses falling at the same speed would both reach the ground at the same time. 18
Page 1 and 2: The Basics of Newtonian Mechanics J
Page 3 and 4: Newton Sir Isaac Newton was a Briti
Page 5 and 6: Vectors vs. Scalars In physics, the
Page 7 and 8: Momentum Momentum is a quantity bas
Page 9 and 10: Position vs. Time A common way to d
Page 11 and 12: Inertia Inertia is the resistance o
Page 13 and 14: Newton's Second Law Newton's second
Page 15 and 16: Newton's Third Law Newton's third l
Page 17: Gravity Gravitational force is the
Page 21 and 22: Planets in Motion The earth is not
Page 23 and 24: Einstein and Gravity Einstein offer
Page 25 and 26: About the Authors Josh Samara (left

The Basics of Newtonian Mechanics - the Scientia Review

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