Gravitation and Gravity
The force of attraction between any two masses in the universe is called gravitation. Term ‘Gravity’ and ‘Gravitation’ have the same meaning, but ‘Gravity’ is used in reference to the earth specifically. Gravitational pull of earth is called Gravity. A gravitational force acts between each and every object surrounding us, but we did not see them moving because the magnitude of the gravitational force is very small. However, in the case of heavier bodies like planets and stars, the gravitational force is significant.
If you pay close attention to nature, you may conclude that gravitational force is responsible for many natural phenomena such as,
- If you throw an object upwards or towards the sky, it will always fall towards the earth’s surface due to gravitation.
- The flowing of rivers (from higher gravitational potential energy to lower gravitational potential energy).
- and motion of heavy bodies like Motion of planets around sun, Motion of satellites around Earth.
Characteristics of Gravitation or Gravitational force:
- Gravitational force is the weakest force in nature.
- It is a conservative force.
- Gravitational force is always attractive in nature.
- Gravitational force is a mutual force and it obey Newton’s III Law i.e. The amount of force with which the earth attracts an object is equal to the attractive force applied by the object on earth.
The gravitational force of the earth on an object = The gravitational force of the object on the earth
- It is a long-range force. Planets are far away from the sun and move under the gravitational force of the sun.