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Gravitational acceleration
 
 
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In physics
Physics

Physics is the natural science which examines basic concepts such as energy, force, and spacetime and all that derives from these, such as mass, charge, matter and its Motion ....
, gravitational acceleration is the acceleration
Acceleration

File:Acceleration.JPGFile:Acceleration components.JPGIn physics, and more specifically kinematics, acceleration is the change in velocity over time....
 of an object caused by the force of gravity from another object. In the absence of any other forces, any object will accelerate in a gravitational field
Gravitational field

A gravitational field is a scientific model used within physics to explain how gravitation exists in the universe. In its original concept, gravity was a force between point masses....
 at the same rate, regardless of the mass of the object. On the surface of the Earth, all objects fall with an acceleration of somewhere between 9.78 and 9.82 m/sē depending on latitude
Latitude

Latitude, usually denoted symbolically by the Greek letter phi gives the location of a place on Earth north or south of the equator. Lines of Latitude are the horizontal lines shown running east-to-west on maps ....
, with a conventional
Convention (norm)

A convention is a set of agreement, stipulated or generally accepted standards, norm , norm or criterion, often taking the form of a Custom ....
 standard value
Standard gravity

Standard gravity, usually denoted by g0 or gn, is the nominal acceleration due to Earth's gravity at the Earth's surface at sea level....
 of exactly 9.80665 m/sē, (approx.






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In physics
Physics

Physics is the natural science which examines basic concepts such as energy, force, and spacetime and all that derives from these, such as mass, charge, matter and its Motion ....
, gravitational acceleration is the acceleration
Acceleration

File:Acceleration.JPGFile:Acceleration components.JPGIn physics, and more specifically kinematics, acceleration is the change in velocity over time....
 of an object caused by the force of gravity from another object. In the absence of any other forces, any object will accelerate in a gravitational field
Gravitational field

A gravitational field is a scientific model used within physics to explain how gravitation exists in the universe. In its original concept, gravity was a force between point masses....
 at the same rate, regardless of the mass of the object. On the surface of the Earth, all objects fall with an acceleration of somewhere between 9.78 and 9.82 m/sē depending on latitude
Latitude

Latitude, usually denoted symbolically by the Greek letter phi gives the location of a place on Earth north or south of the equator. Lines of Latitude are the horizontal lines shown running east-to-west on maps ....
, with a conventional
Convention (norm)

A convention is a set of agreement, stipulated or generally accepted standards, norm , norm or criterion, often taking the form of a Custom ....
 standard value
Standard gravity

Standard gravity, usually denoted by g0 or gn, is the nominal acceleration due to Earth's gravity at the Earth's surface at sea level....
 of exactly 9.80665 m/sē, (approx. 32.174 ft/s2).

The gravitational acceleration towards an object is given by:



where:

m is the mass of the object,
r is the distance from center of the object to the location we are considering,
is the unit vector
Unit vector

In mathematics, a unit vector in a normed vector space is a Vector space whose Norm is 1 . A unit vector is often denoted by a lowercase letter with a superscribed caret or ?hat?, like this: ....
 from center of the object to the location we are considering,
G is the gravitational constant
Gravitational constant

The gravitational constant, denoted G, is an empirical physical constant involved in the calculation of the gravitation between objects with mass....
 of the universe.


See also

  • Newton's law of universal gravitation
    Newton's law of universal gravitation

    Isaac Newton's law of universal gravitation is an empirical physical law describing the gravitational attraction between bodies with mass. It is a part of classical mechanics and was first formulated in Newton's work Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica, first published on July 5 1687....
  • Air track
    Air Track

    An air track is a scientific device used to study motion in low friction environment. Its name comes from its structure: air is pumped through a hollow track with fine holes all along the track that allows specially fitted air track cars to glide relatively friction-free....
  • Standard gravity
    Standard gravity

    Standard gravity, usually denoted by g0 or gn, is the nominal acceleration due to Earth's gravity at the Earth's surface at sea level....