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
Astronaut balancing act: Training to help explorers adapt to a return to gravity
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
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Astronauts returning from challenging long-duration missions face one more challenge when they get back to Earth - standing up and walking.
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Dec 08, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Barbara Frisken received several messages from outer space this year on her answering machine.
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Studying a Star Before it is Born
Dec 04, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The first phase of a star's formation are thought to begin deep inside a natal cloud of gas and dust. In the earliest stages, material coalesces under the influence of gravity into so-called ...
The 2009 Geminid Meteor Shower (w/ Video)
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Dec 08, 2009 |
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Make hot cocoa. Bundle up. Tell your friends. The best meteor shower of 2009 is about to fall over North America on a long, cold December night.
Aussie galaxy survey to lead to 'new physics'
Dec 08, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Australian astronomers have released the first set of data from the first project to look at the effects of "dark energy" halfway back in the Universe's lifetime.
Does weak equivalence break down at the quantum level?
Dec 08, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- One of the givens in physics is the weak equivalence principle. This principle has been considered solid since Einstein proposed that it is not possible to detect the difference between uniform acceleration ...
Microscopic gyroscopes, the key for motion sensing
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Tiny devices made possible by combining the latest advances in mechanical and electronics technology could be at the heart of next-generation personal navigation and vehicle stabilisation ...
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