Have you ever wondered why things fall to the ground when you drop them? Or why do the planets move in predictable paths through the sky? The answer lies in a powerful and invisible force called gravity. Gravity is what keeps us anchored to Earth, holds the atmosphere around us, and guides the movement of planets, stars, and galaxies. In this section, you’ll discover what gravity is, how it works, and why it's one of the most important forces in the universe.
The Discovery of Gravity
In the 1600s, Sir Isaac Newton first described gravity in a way that changed how people understood the universe. According to legend, Newton began thinking deeply about gravity when he saw an apple fall from a tree. He wondered why the apple fell straight down and not sideways or upward. This simple observation led him to develop the theory that all objects are attracted to each other by a force, which we now call gravity.
Newton realized that this force didn’t just apply to apples—it explained how the Moon orbits the Earth and how planets stay in motion around the Sun. He wrote about this in his famous book Principia Mathematica in 1687, where he introduced the law of universal gravitation. This law states that every object in the universe attracts every other object, and the strength of that attraction depends on their masses and the distance between them.
Newton’s work laid the foundation for classical physics and helped us understand that gravity is a universal force that affects everything with mass. His discovery was a major step forward in science and remains a key concept in understanding motion and space today.
Gravity on Earth
Gravity is the force that pulls everything toward the center of the Earth. You experience it every day—when you drop a pencil and it falls to the floor, or when you jump in the air and come back down. It’s what keeps your feet on the ground and what causes rain to fall from the sky. Gravity also gives weight to everything. Without gravity, objects wouldn’t stay put, and we wouldn’t be able to walk or run the way we do. Even rivers flow downhill, and oceans stay in place because of gravity. Though you can’t see gravity, you can always observe its effects. It acts everywhere on Earth and influences how things move and stay still.
Gravity on Earth has a constant acceleration. This means the rate at which objects fall toward the Earth due to gravity is always the same, regardless of the object's mass. This acceleration is known as gravitational acceleration, and it is approximately 9.8 meters per second squared (m/s²).
This means that every second an object falls, its speed increases by 9.8 meters per second. For example, if you drop an object, after one second it will be moving at 9.8 meters per second, after two seconds it will be moving at 19.6 meters per second, and so on.
The term constant refers to the fact that this acceleration is the same at all points on Earth's surface, assuming you're not near extremely tall mountains or deep under the ocean, where gravity might be slightly different. The object’s mass does not affect how quickly it accelerates due to gravity, so a small rock and a large boulder will fall at the same rate, if air resistance is negligible.
Air Resistance
Air resistance, also known as drag, is the force that opposes the motion of an object through the air. When an object falls, gravity pulls it downward, but as it moves through the air, air molecules push against it. The more surface area an object has, the more air resistance it experiences. For example, a flat piece of paper falls more slowly than a crumpled piece of paper because the flat paper has a larger surface area, which results in more air resistance.
Air resistance affects how quickly objects fall because it acts in the opposite direction of gravity. As an object falls, it speeds up until the air resistance becomes strong enough to balance out the force of gravity. At this point, the object reaches a terminal velocity, which is the constant speed at which it falls. Terminal velocity depends on the object's size, shape, and mass. For example, a skydiver in a belly-to-earth position will reach a terminal velocity of about 120 miles per hour, but if they pull their parachute, they increase their surface area and dramatically reduce air resistance, causing them to slow down.
Animals and Air Resistance
Many animals have evolved ways to use air resistance to help them move more efficiently. Flying animals such as bats and birds have adapted their body shapes to maximize control over air resistance. Bats, for instance, have flexible wings with a larger surface area, allowing them to maneuver and slow their descent, especially in complex flight patterns or when hunting.
Some animals, like squirrels, can also use air resistance to help slow their fall. When a squirrel leaps from a tree, it spreads its limbs and tail wide, increasing its body's surface area and creating more air resistance. This helps slow its descent and allows it to control its landing.
Flying squirrels are specially adapted with flaps of skin between their limbs that they can stretch out to catch the air, allowing them to glide long distances between trees to escape predators or find food. By increasing the surface area of their bodies, these animals maximize the effect of air resistance to control their speed and direction in the air.
Gravity in Space
Gravity doesn’t just work on Earth—it’s a force that acts throughout the universe. In space, gravity keeps planets in orbit around the Sun and moons in orbit around planets. Gravity is always at work, pulling objects toward each other. The Sun’s gravity, for example, is so strong that it holds all the planets in the solar system in orbit. On the Moon, gravity is weaker than on Earth because the Moon is so much smaller than Earth. As a result, astronauts can jump higher on the Moon than on Earth. In space, the effects of gravity can be different, but they are never gone. Gravity shapes galaxies, guides comets, and even pulls stars together to form clusters. It is one of the most important forces in the universe.
How Gravity Formed Our Solar System
Gravity played a major role in forming our solar system. About 4.6 billion years ago, a giant cloud of gas and dust in space, called a nebula, began to collapse. This collapse was caused by gravity, which pulled the particles closer together. As the cloud shrank, it spun faster and flattened into a disk. Most of the material gathered in the center to form the Sun, while the rest of the particles clumped together to become planets, moons, asteroids, and other objects. Gravity kept pulling these clumps together, helping them grow and take shape. Even after the solar system formed, gravity continued to control how everything moves—keeping the planets in orbit and helping shape the paths of comets and asteroids. Without gravity, the solar system as we know it would not exist.
Black Holes
Black holes are one of the most mysterious and powerful objects in the universe. They form when a very massive star runs out of fuel and collapses under its own gravity. The gravity becomes so strong that it pulls everything inward—even light cannot escape! That’s why black holes appear completely dark.
Black holes come in different sizes. Some are just a few times more massive than our Sun, while others, called supermassive black holes, are millions or even billions of times more massive and are found at the centers of galaxies. Although we can’t see black holes directly, scientists detect them by observing how they affect nearby stars, gas, and even light.
Black holes are important to scientists because they help us understand gravity at its most extreme. They challenge what we know about space, time, and the laws of physics. Studying black holes helps unlock the secrets of the universe.
Weight and Mass
Although the terms "weight" and "mass" are often used interchangeably, they actually refer to different things.
Mass is the amount of matter in an object. It doesn’t change, no matter where the object is in the universe. Mass is measured in units like grams (g) or kilograms (kg). For example, a rock has a certain mass, whether it's on Earth, the Moon, or in outer space. Mass is a constant property of an object.
Weight, on the other hand, is the force of gravity acting on an object’s mass. Since gravity can change depending on where you are, weight can vary. On Earth, the weight of an object depends on both its mass and the strength of Earth's gravity. The weight of an object is measured in units like newtons (N) or pounds (lb).
For example, if you weigh 100 pounds on Earth, your weight would be much less on the Moon, where gravity is only about 1/6th as strong as it is on Earth. However, your mass would remain the same no matter where you go.
Mass stays the same everywhere.
Weight changes depending on the strength of gravity at your location.
This is why astronauts in space feel weightless—they are in "microgravity," so even though they have mass, they don’t experience weight the way we do on Earth.
How the Moon's Gravity Affects Earth
The Moon’s gravity has a significant impact on Earth, most notably through its effect on ocean tides. The gravitational pull of the Moon causes the water in Earth’s oceans to bulge out slightly, creating two high tides and two low tides each day. This is because the Moon's gravity pulls the water closest to it, creating a "high tide" on the side of Earth facing the Moon. On the opposite side of the Earth, another high tide occurs due to the centrifugal force created by the Earth-Moon system’s rotation.
Tides are strongest when the Sun, Moon, and Earth are aligned during full moons and new moons, a phenomenon called "spring tides." During this time, both the Sun and Moon's gravitational forces work together to produce higher-than-usual high tides and lower-than-usual low tides.
The Moon's gravity also helps to stabilize Earth’s tilt. Over long periods of time, the gravitational pull of the Moon acts like a brake, preventing Earth's axial tilt from shifting too dramatically. This stabilizing effect helps maintain a more consistent climate, which is important for life on Earth.
In addition to tides and climate stability, the Moon’s gravity also has subtle effects on Earth's rotation. Earth is gradually slowing down due to the Moon’s gravitational pull, and over millions of years, this will lengthen the length of our days. However, these changes occur so slowly that they are not noticeable in a human lifetime.
Do you want a printable reading passage on Earth's slowing rotation? You can get it at Teachers Pay Teachers!
Do you want a printable reading passage on Earth's tides? You can get it at Teachers Pay Teachers!
The Origin of the Solar System Flashcards
You can get these flashcards at Teachers Pay Teachers. You can also see them here for free!
Middle School Science
