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Grade 4 | Science | Gravity, Work, Force and Energy, Olympiad, CBSE, ICSE, Maths Olympiad, Science Olympiad, English Olympiad
Gravity
Have you ever wondered by every object we throw upwards comes back to the Earth only. Why is it so we always walk while stumping our foot downwards. There is a mysterious force behind it i.e Gravity. All the objects that can be touched physically, gravity can pull everything towards it. More matter in any object means the gravitational force will be greater for that object. This is the reason why the big planets and stars have stronger gravitational pull.
Note- The Sun has greater gravitational pull than the Earth. Now you may wonder, if that is so then why aren't we are being pulled by the Sun and why are we stuck to the Earth instead? The reason is distance, as we are closer to the Earth in comparison to the Sun. Closer the distance between the object greater is the pull of Gravitation.
Sir Isaac Newton was the very first person to discover the significant phenomenon called gravity in 1666. He proved the force of gravitation with an appropriate mathematical derivation - Newton-s law of gravitation. It is said that an apple falling from the tree stirred the thoughts in his mind and forced him to speculate about the happening that resulted in his great description of the phenomenal force- Gravity.
Yet, another world-renowned scientist - Albert Einstein, supported the claim proposed by Newton, by tossing his theory of relativity.
Why Gravity is significant?
As we have discussed already, it is the pull of Gravity only that makes us to stick to the Earth's surface. Otherwise, we might have been flowing in the vast empty space with no air,food and water. The atmosphere around the Earth is because of the pull of gravity only. The Moon revolves around the Earth due to this phenomenon, the planets revolve around the Sun, only due to gravitational pull. The weight you possess is nothing but the force with which the gravity pulls you towards the Earth. The Weight we measure is the force of gravity with which the Earth pulls us towards it; not the mass present in our body. In case, you travel the Moon, your weight will be 1/6th of the weight in the Earth as Moon's gravity is 1/6 of the Earth's gravity. So, your weight may vary accordingly to the force of gravitation in different planets or heavenly bodies.
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