For questions about the attractive force between two objects which possess gravitational mass or energy.
Questions tagged [gravity]
67 questions
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How did Newton come up with mass terms in his gravitation formula and then what led to a confusion between inertial and gravitational mass?
Newton had realised that the acceleration due to gravitational force had to be inversely dependent on the square of the distance between two bodies. But how did he arrive at the conclusion that the force is also directly proportional to the product…
Big Brother
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Was Lorentz aware of Le Sage theory?
I just wondered if Lorentz was aware of Le Sage theory. Seems like he uses similar math. Is there any direct quote from Lorentz regarding Le Sage gravity?
Anti Fa
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How did Bishop Francis Godwin Know About Mass and Gravity Pre-Newton?
In the answer to this question, a user provided a quote from the 1638 novel The Man in the Moone by Bishop Francis Godwin:
The manner of our Travel to the Palace of Pylonas was more strange and
incredible than any thing we have related, for at…
tbrookside
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Who introduced passive/active gravitational mass?
Do you know who introduced the distinction between active and passive mass?
In what circumstances the necessity for such distinction arose and when it was discarded? Wasn't it quite obvious that a massive body produces gravitational pull and is…
user157860
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Was the effect of gravity completely anticipated by the first to ascend in balloons and later airplanes?
I understand why the effects of gravity are felt in both balloons and high-flying planes and I believe that while it could have been calculated using Newton's law of gravitation, was there speculation by real scientists about what an observer would…
releseabe
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How did LeSage look at corpuscles?
LeSage proposed a theory of gravity that describes as well as explains gravity. Space is filled with corpuscles that push masses on all side. As a result two masses will start to move to each other because they are pushed on one side more than on…
Deschele Schilder
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How did Newton come up with the formula for gravity?
In high school students are taught the formula that describes the universal gravitational force $F=G\frac{m_1 m_2}{r^2}$. However it is not taught how and why Newton came up with it. Does Newton give a demonstration of the formula?
PunkZebra
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Who was the first person to intuitively explain why gravity weakens by the square of the distance?
the surface area of a sphere is 4pir^2 and when you increase it the energy disperses by the square. Who was the first person to realize this?
Ray Kay
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