Universal Gravitaional Constant?? (1 Viewer)

B

Benn Portelli

Guest
hey,

im a beginner and my spelling is really bad, but i have a question.


In the equations for most of the gravity part they refer to a universal gravitational constant 6.672x10-11 (sorry i dont know how to make it small). my question is where does this value come from? i asked my teacher but she said i didnt have to know which means she didnt know. so if anyone does know plz help me!

thanks
 

FinalFantasy

Active Member
Joined
Jun 25, 2004
Messages
1,179
Gender
Male
HSC
2005
G is a constant of proportionality, it's a "universal constant" because it is same at all places at all times. It's the intrinsic strength of the gravitational force.

Plz correct me if im wrong:)
 

Xayma

Lacking creativity
Joined
Sep 6, 2003
Messages
5,953
Gender
Undisclosed
HSC
N/A
Basically it came from empirical values found by looking at the attraction between heavy objects with which their masses were known. It is a constant, but was found empirically.
 

airie

airie <3 avatars :)
Joined
Nov 4, 2005
Messages
1,143
Location
in my nest :)
Gender
Female
HSC
2007
el gwapo said:
so it is to the power of negative 11? my substitute physics teacher said it was positive 11
lol, if it were to the power of positive 11, you won't be able to move at all :p
 

twilight1412

Member
Joined
Mar 20, 2006
Messages
197
Location
St Marys
Gender
Male
HSC
2007
airie said:
lol, if it were to the power of positive 11, you won't be able to move at all :p
actually .. we would move .... we would go splat ><
and we would feel lots of attraction to other objects ....
*imagining human magnets*
 

alcalder

Just ask for help
Joined
Jun 26, 2006
Messages
601
Location
Sydney
Gender
Female
HSC
N/A
Kind of off the topic but not really, the force of gravity is the weakest of all known fundamental forces of nature. It is SO much weaker than electro-magnetism and the weak and strong nuclear forces.

This is an enigma and one of the thoughts in the multi-layered universe theory (the one that gravity extends over all the planes of existence - multiple universes - and hence it is weak because it is so spread out. Good ol' String Theory. *shudder*)
 

Forbidden.

Banned
Joined
Feb 28, 2006
Messages
4,436
Location
Deep trenches of burning HELL
Gender
Male
HSC
2007
FinalFantasy said:
G is a constant of proportionality, it's a "universal constant" because it is same at all places at all times. It's the intrinsic strength of the gravitational force.

Plz correct me if im wrong:)
You know, theoretical physicists thought, if a constant would have changed, for example G (i.e Universal Gravitation Constant) in the escape velocity v2 = 2GM/r, the escape velocity would change proportionally, but constants don't change.

el gwapo said:
so it is to the power of negative 11? my substitute physics teacher said it was positive 11
Well he is not a physics teacher seeming as though he IS a substitute teacher after all. If G was 6.67 x 1011, we will never get off this planet and not to mention .....

airie said:
lol, if it were to the power of positive 11, you won't be able to move at all :p
And the moment the Universal Gravitational Constant changed to 6.67 x 1011, we would be binded to the heaviest adjacent objects indefinitely.
Holy shit, that's comparable to the weak nuclear force that holds some matter together.
 

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 0, Guests: 1)

Top