Gravitation Vocabulary

Inverse square law

A law stating that the intensity of an effect such as illumination or gravitational force changes in inverse proportion to the square of the distance from the source.

Universal gravitation

A particle attracts every other particle in the universe using a force that is directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.

Center of gravity

A point from which the weight of a body or system may be considered to act. In uniform gravity it is the same as the center of mass.

Distance to centers

An imaginary point in a body of matter where, for convenience in certain calculations, the total weight of the body may be thought to be concentrated

Geosynchronous

Being or having an orbit around the earth with a period equal to one sidereal day; specifically

Radius or Separation

Charge separation, often referred to as static electricity, is the building of space between particles of opposite charges.

Free fall

Is any motion of a body where gravity is the only force acting upon it.

Gravitational constant

The constant relating the force of gravitational attraction between two bodies to the product of their masses and the inverse square of the distance between them in Newton's law of gravitation.

Force of gravity

The gravitational force between a mass and the Earth is the object's weight. Mass is considered a measure of an object's inertia, and its weight is the force exerted on the object in a gravitational field.

Weightlessness

The phenomenon of "weightlessness" occurs when there is no force of support on your body.

Centripetal acceleration

The rate of change of tangential velocity

Gravitational field

The region of space surrounding a body in which another body experiences a force of gravitational attraction.