Monday, August 24, 2015

gravity - Gravitational force between two masses



I get it that there will be a gravitational force between objects attracted towards gravity but can there be a gravitational force between two objects resting on horizontal plane? In other words, does an object experience gravitational force in all directions?



Answer



The question is confusing, but I think you might possibly mean the following: Are two objects resting on a horizontal table gravitationally attracted to each other? If that's your question, then the answer is yes. The gravitational attraction is very weak for "normal-sized" objects, though. You can use the rule F=Gm1m2r2

to work it out. In this formula, G=6.67×1011Nm2/kg2, m1,m2 are the masses, and r is the separation between their centers. (Strictly speaking this is only correct if the objects are spheres.)


Cavendish managed to measure this attraction back in the 1700s, in a truly amazing experiment.


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