Define the force of gravitation and give some examples of it.
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Solution
The force of gravitation, also known as gravitational force, can be defined as the force of attraction that arises between two bodies having definite masses.
The gravitational force between the two bodies is directly proportional to the product of the masses of the two bodies and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.
The expression for the force of gravitation is . Where F denotes the force of gravitation, denotes the universal gravitational constant, denotes the mass of the first object, denotes the mass of the second object, and denotes the distance between the two objects.
Common examples of the force of gravity include the force responsible for the orbit of the moon, the force that binds all humans to the ground, the force that keeps the Earth’s atmosphere held in place, and the force that causes a stone thrown up into the air to fall back to the ground.