Newton's law of gravitation

Also found in: Thesaurus, Medical, Legal, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.

Newton's law of gravitation

The law proposed by Sir Isaac Newton that expresses the force of gravitational attraction between two bodies as a function of their masses and their distance. Expressed mathematically, F = ^Gm1m2/_d² where F is the force in Newtons, m₁ and m₂ are the masses of the bodies in kilograms, G is the gravitational constant, and d is the distance between the bodies in meters.

[After Isaac Newton.]

Newton's law of gravitation

(General Physics) the principle that two particles attract each other with forces directly proportional to the product of their masses divided by the square of the distance between them

Newton's law of gravitation

The principle that two bodies exert a gravitational attraction for each other that increases as their masses increase and as the distance between them decreases. In mathematical terms, the force equals the product of the two masses multiplied by the gravitational constant and divided by the square of the distance. Also called law of gravitation, law of universal gravitation. See Note at gravity.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Noun

Newton's law of gravitation - (physics) the law that states any two bodies attract each other with a force that is directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them

law of gravitation

law of nature, law - a generalization that describes recurring facts or events in nature; "the laws of thermodynamics"

gravitational theory, Newton's theory of gravitation, theory of gravitation, theory of gravity - (physics) the theory that any two particles of matter attract one another with a force directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them

natural philosophy, physics - the science of matter and energy and their interactions; "his favorite subject was physics"

constant of gravitation, gravitational constant, universal gravitational constant, G - (physics) the universal constant relating force to mass and distance in Newton's law of gravitation

Mentioned in ?

References in periodicals archive ?

The required use of G in Sir Isaac Newton's Law of Gravitation, F=Gm1m2/r^2, factors in something other than the two mass or the equation would read F=m1m2/r^2.

New Book on Amazon Gives First New Theory on Gravity in 400 Years Since Sir Isaac Newton Published "The Principia"

Current models and simulations of the universe are built on Newton's law of gravitation, using codes that do not incorporate the movement of space itself.

New Simulation Could Shed Light On Dark Energy

Only later in a second phase of development do students connect this with Newton's law of gravitation itself and explore other consequences of that law, such as the orbital motions of satellites.

Probing year 11 physics students' understandings of gravitation

For example, in physics, Newton's law of gravitation tells us how a particle moves under the action of gravity.