Gravity

Free Fall

The motion of a body when only the force of gravity is acting upon it.

Terminal Velocity

The constant speed of a falling object when the force of air resistance equals the force of gravity.

Projectile Motion

The curved path followed by an object that is thrown, launched, or otherwise projected near the surface of the Earth.

Law of Universal Gravitation

All objects in the universe attract each other through gravitational force.

Weight

The gravitational force exerted on an object due to its mass, calculated as W = mg.

Mass

A measure of the amount of matter in an object, which remains constant regardless of location.

Gravitational Force

The attractive force between two masses, which increases with greater masses and decreases with increasing distance.

Free-Fall Acceleration (g)

Approximately 9.8 m/s² near Earth's surface, constant for all objects regardless of mass.

Orbital Motion

A combination of downward gravitational pull and forward inertia that causes an object to travel in a curved path around another object.

Newton's Second Law

States that acceleration depends on the net force acting on an object and the mass of the object.

Balanced Forces

When the upward force of air resistance equals the downward force of gravity, resulting in no acceleration.

Apparent Weightlessness

The experience of feeling weightless while in free fall, such as in orbit where the only force acting is gravity.

Gravitational Force Equation

Expressed as F = G(m1*m2)/r^2, where F is the gravitational force, G is the gravitational constant, m1 and m2 are the masses, and r is the distance between their centers.