Gravity Facts

 

• Objects with mass are attracted to each other, this is known as gravity.

• Gravity keeps Earth and the other planets in our solar system in orbit around the Sun. It also keeps the Moon in orbit around Earth.

• Tides are caused by the rotation of the Earth and the gravitational effects of the Moon and Sun.

• Because marshas a lower gravity than Earth, a person weighing 200 pounds on Earth would only weigh 76 pounds on Mars.

• It is thought that newton’s theories on gravity were inspired by seeing an apple fall from a tree.

• While Newton’s older law of universal gravitation is accurate in most scenarios, modern physics uses alebert eiastein’s general theory of relativity to describe gravity.

• Acceleration of objects to due to the gravity on Earth is around 9.8 m/s2. If you ignore air resistance (drag) then the speed of an object falling to Earth increases by around 9.8 metres per second every second.

• The force of gravity 100 kilometres (62 miles) above Earth is just 3% less than at the Earth’s surface.

• The human body can handle increased g-forces as seen in activities such as dragster races, airplane acrobatics and space training. The highest known acceleration voluntarily experienced by a human is 46.2 g by g-force pioneer John Stapp.

• While formula one racing drivers may feel around 5 g’s under heavy braking, they can experience over 100 g’s if a crash causes them to decelerate extremely quickly over a very short distance.

• Some roller coasters have been known to include g-forces of around 4 to 6 g.