Suppose you’re a physicist in 1859, and you are measuring the gravitational pull of the Sun to Mercury (This is the actual year that Urbain Le Verrier noticed an issue in the precession of the perihelion of Mercury’s orbit, leading to Einstein’s equations for Gravity!). The mass of Mercury is 3.285 * 1023 Kg, and the mass of the Sun is 1.989 * 1030 Kg. The distance from the Sun to Mercury is 49.015 billion meters! What is the is the acceleration due to gravity of the Sun to Mercury and Mercury to the Sun?
Gravitational force
In nature, every object is attracted by every other object. This phenomenon is called gravity. The force associated with gravity is called gravitational force. The gravitational force is the weakest force that exists in nature. The gravitational force is always attractive.
Acceleration Due to Gravity
In fundamental physics, gravity or gravitational force is the universal attractive force acting between all the matters that exist or exhibit. It is the weakest known force. Therefore no internal changes in an object occurs due to this force. On the other hand, it has control over the trajectories of bodies in the solar system and in the universe due to its vast scope and universal action. The free fall of objects on Earth and the motions of celestial bodies, according to Newton, are both determined by the same force. It was Newton who put forward that the moon is held by a strong attractive force exerted by the Earth which makes it revolve in a straight line. He was sure that this force is similar to the downward force which Earth exerts on all the objects on it.
Suppose you’re a physicist in 1859, and you are measuring the gravitational pull of the Sun to Mercury (This is the actual year that Urbain Le Verrier noticed an issue in the precession of the perihelion of Mercury’s orbit, leading to Einstein’s equations for Gravity!). The mass of Mercury is 3.285 * 1023 Kg, and the mass of the Sun is 1.989 * 1030 Kg. The distance from the Sun to Mercury is 49.015 billion meters! What is the is the acceleration due to gravity of the Sun to Mercury and Mercury to the Sun?
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