Gravitation
hideGravitation is a natural phenomenon by which objects with mass attract one another. In everyday life, gravitation is most commonly thought of as the agency which lends weight to objects with mass. Gravitation compels dispersed matter to coalesce, thus accounting for the existence of the Earth, the Sun, and most of the macroscopic objects in the universe. 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 fluid flow occurs under the influence of a temperature gradient and gravity; for heating the interiors of forming stars and planets to very high temperatures; and for various other phenomena observed on Earth. Modern physics describes gravitation using the general theory of relativity, in which gravitation is a consequence of the curvature of spacetime which governs the motion of inertial objects. The simpler Newton's law of universal gravitation provides an accurate approximation for most calculations.
The terms gravitation and gravity are mostly interchangeable in everyday use, but a distinction is made in scientific circles. "Gravitation" is a general term describing the phenomenon by which bodies with mass are attracted to one another, while "gravity" refers specifically to the net force exerted by the Earth on objects in its vicinity as well as by other factors, such as the Earth's rotation.
For more information about Gravitation, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with gravity
Do we need dark matter?
Nov 12, 2009 |
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It's the biggest problem in physics: the matter we can see in the universe accounts for just five per cent of the observed gravity that holds galaxies together.
Dark Matter in a Galaxy
Oct 30, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Stars, the most familiar objects in the night sky, make up only a tiny percentage of the total amount of matter in the universe -- about 2%.
Gamma-ray photon race ends in dead heat; Einstein wins this round
Oct 28, 2009 |
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Racing across the universe for the last 7.3 billion years, two gamma-ray photons arrived at NASA's orbiting Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope within nine-tenths of a second of one another. The dead-heat finish ...
Fermi Telescope Caps First Year With Glimpse of Space-Time (w/ Video)
Oct 28, 2009 |
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During its first year of operations, NASA's Fermi Gamma Ray Space Telescope mapped the extreme sky with unprecedented resolution and sensitivity. It captured more than one thousand discrete sources of gamma ...
Students demonstrate flux pinning in low gravity
Oct 27, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A team of Cornell researchers recently tested their work on the mysterious physical phenomenon of flux pinning aboard a near-zero gravity aircraft.
Last visit home for ESA's comet chaser Rosetta
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Oct 20, 2009 |
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ESA's Rosetta comet chaser will swing by Earth on 13 November to pick up orbital energy and begin the final leg of its 10-year journey to the outer Solar System. Several observations of the Earth-Moon system ...
'Look Ma, No Parachute!' Lunar Lander Floats on Electric-blue Jets
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Oct 15, 2009 |
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How do you fly on a world with no atmosphere? Wings won't work and neither do propellers. And don't even try that parachute!
Forgotten treasures shed new light on Little Grey Rabbit author
Oct 12, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A suffragette poem, penned by a world-famous children’s author and kept privately at a University of Manchester Hall of Residence for over a century, has been made available online.
Invisible hand in invisible matter
Oct 06, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- An international team of astronomers have found an unexpected link between mysterious 'dark matter' and the visible stars and gas in galaxies that could revolutionise our current understanding ...
Circus tycoon clowns around aboard space station
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Oct 02, 2009 |
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(AP) -- A Canadian circus billionaire boarded the International Space Station on Friday after a smooth ride up from Earth, and promptly played the entertainer by donning a red clown nose for a camera.
GOCE delivering data for best gravity map ever (w/ Video)
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Sep 30, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Following the launch and in-orbit testing of the most sophisticated gravity mission ever built, ESA’s GOCE satellite is now in ‘measurement mode’, mapping tiny variations in Earth’s gravity ...
Free online activity explains MESSENGER spacecraft's Mercury flyby on Sept. 29
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Sep 21, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft will fly past the planet Mercury on Sept. 29, and a free online simulator created by staff at Montana State University's Burns Technology Center helps explain how ...
Spirit Rover: Computer Modeling Supplements Dusty Testing
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Sep 15, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Tests on Earth simulating Spirit's predicament on Mars have reinforced understanding that getting Spirit to rove again will be very difficult.
Mice Levitated for Space Research
Sep 11, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have managed to levitate young mice in research carried out for NASA. Levitated mice may help research on bone density loss during long exposures to low gravity, such as in space ...
A Theory of Dark Matter
Sep 08, 2009 |
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Among the most astounding, unexpected, and important achievements of the past century (or even more) have been the discoveries of dark matter and dark energy, collectively dubbed the "dark sector."
