5.4 - Gravitational fields

What is gravity?

Gravity is the universal attractive force which acts between all matter.

What can field lines tell you about a field?

Direction of field lines and strength depending on density of lines.

What is g?

g is the force per unit area in a uniform gravitational field

In a radial field the magnitude of g is the proportionality constant at that point between force and mass

I.e g=GM/r²

What is Newton’s law of gravitation

States that 2 point masses attract each other with a force that is directly proportional to the product of their masses, and inversely proportional to the square of the distances between them.