Gravity Formula

Understanding Gravity

Gravity is the force that attracts two bodies toward each other. It is the force that gives weight to objects and causes them to fall towards the Earth or any other massive body. It was Sir Isaac Newton who first formalized this notion in his Law of Universal Gravitation.

Definition Of The Gravity Formula

The formula for gravity is also referred to as Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation and simply defines how hard gravity can pull objects toward one another. It states that every pair of objects in the universe attracts the other with a gravitational force, and that it is proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between the centers.

The Formula For Gravity

The formula to calculate the gravitational force (F) between two masses is:

where:

F = gravitational force between the two masses

G = universal gravitational constant (6.674×10−11N⋅m2/kg2)

​m1= mass of the first object

m2= mass of the second object

r = distance between the centers of the two masses

This gravitational force formula is really helpful in calculating the value of gravity, greater mass, greater radius, etc.

Solved Problems With Gravity 

Here are a few questions on gravity that help one understand the application of this formula.

Problem 1: Calculate the Force due to gravitation applied on two objects of masses 2 Kg and 5 Kg separated by distance 5cm?

Solution:

Given : Mass m1 = 2 Kg,

Mass m2 = 5 Kg

The radius is r = 5 cm.

Force due to gravity is given as,

Problem 2: Find the magnitude of the gravitational force between the earth and a 1 kg object on its surface? (Mass of the earth is of the earth is and radius of the earth is  )

Solution: From the gravitational formula, we know that the force of attraction between the bodies is given by

where,

• m1= 

• m2= 1kg

• r = 

By using formula,

The above expression, therefore, shows that the earth exerts force 9.8 N on a body of mass of 1 Kg.