Isaac Newton
Dec 18, 2015
Isaac Newton
• Initial calculations didn’t work
• Placed theory in a drawer for 20 years
• When the comet of 1670 came, Halley convinced him to re- look at it.
Isaac Newton
• Initial calculations didn’t work
• Placed theory in a drawer for 20 years
• When the comet of 1670 came, Halley convinced him to re- look at it.
• Produced the Law of Universal Gravitation
Universal gravitation constant
(G) = 6.67 x10-11 N m2 / kg2
• Equals the force of attraction between two 1kg masses 1 meter apart
Universal Law of Gravitation
• Youtubehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPyH93vXutk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5BQkdyAw8A
Universal gravitation constant
• Philipp von Jolly’s – measurement experiment
• Mercury Flask and a 6 ton lead ball
Gravitational Force
• The force is extremely small and for most tangible things it is two sensitive to measure
• attraction to one another is not measurable but the attraction to the earth is what we call weight
Gravitational Force
• It is based on the distance to the center of the earth –
• weigh less on a mountain
• Is this a new diet infomercial???
Book Questions1.By how much does the gravitational force
between two objects decrease when the distance between their centers is doubled, tripled, and increased tenfold?
2.Consider an apple that is at the top of a tree and is being pulled by the earths gravity with a force of 1 N. If the tree were twice as tall, would the force of gravity be only ¼ as strong?