Lab activity for Gravitational Force calculation

📚 Topic Summary

The Law of Universal Gravitation, developed by Sir Isaac Newton, describes the attractive force between any two objects with mass. This force is directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between their centers. In simpler terms, the bigger the objects and the closer they are, the stronger the gravitational pull. This lab activity will help you apply this law to calculate the gravitational force between different objects.

🧪 Part A: Vocabulary

Match the following terms with their correct definitions:

1. Gravitational Constant
2. Mass
3. Distance
4. Gravitational Force
5. Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation

Definitions:

1. 📏 The space between two points.
2. 🍎 The attractive force between two objects with mass.
3. ⚖️ A measure of the amount of matter in an object.
4. 🌌 States that every particle attracts every other particle in the universe with a force proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between their centers.
5. 🔢 The proportionality constant used in the equation for gravitational force ($G = 6.674 × 10^{-11} N(m/kg)^2$).

✍️ Part B: Fill in the Blanks

Complete the following paragraph with the correct words:

According to Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation, the gravitational force ( $F$ ) between two objects is directly proportional to the product of their _______ ( $m_1$ and $m_2$ ) and inversely proportional to the _______ of the _______ ( $r$ ) between their centers. The equation is represented as: $F = G \frac{m_1 m_2}{r^2}$, where G is the __________.

🤔 Part C: Critical Thinking

Imagine you are on a different planet with twice the mass of Earth but the same radius. How would the gravitational force you experience on that planet compare to the gravitational force you experience on Earth? Explain your reasoning.