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Gravitation is the force that pulls objects toward one another. It attracts
all matter, energy, and objects - both large and small - because of their
mass. All objects have mass, which is the amount of material an object
contains. "Gravity" is the term used to refer to Earth's gravitational pull.
Without gravity pulling us toward the Earth, we would simply fall off the
planet. Gravitation also acts as an attractive force over great distances;
it's the force that makes the planets orbit the sun. Without gravitation,
the planets would fly off into space. Earth's gravity keeps artificial
satellites, which can be as far as a million miles away, in their orbits. A
spacecraft must travel at a speed of of 35,000 ft/sec (10,800 m/sec) to
escape the pull of Earth's gravity. Gravitation is also the force that
prevents the sun from being blown apart by the nuclear reactions that
occur deep within its interior. For many of these reasons, gravitation is
the most dominant force in the universe.
Gravitation is the weakest of the four forces of nature. The other three
forces of nature are electromagnetism, the strong force, and the weak
force. Gravitation is different from the other three forces in other ways.
First, its force always causes an attraction between objects.
Electromagnetism can be attractive or repulsive, depending on the
objects electrical charges. Next, the strong and weak forces only affect
objects within an atom's nucleus - they are nuclear forces. Gravitation
and electromagnetism have an effect on objects over great distances.
Finally, gravitation attracts all matter and energy in the same way.
Because of this, it's called a universal force. However, the other forces
affect only certain types of objects and particles.
Sir Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein both changed the way in which
scientists study the universe with their new theories about gravitation.
Have you ever heard the story about the apple falling on Newton's head?
During the 17th century, Newton discovered that gravitation is the force
that causes an apple to fall from a tree as well as keeps the planets in
orbit. Einstein studied gravitation during the 20th century. Although
scientists like Newton and Einstein have studied gravitation for centuries
and it is easy to see the effects of its force, it is still somewhat of a
mystery - we still don't completely understand how gravitation works.
La gravitacin es la fuerza que atrae los objetos hacia los dems. Atrae a
toda la materia, la energa, y los objetos - grandes y pequeos - a causa
de su masa. Todos los objetos tienen masa, que es la cantidad de
material que contiene un objeto. "Gravity" es el trmino utilizado para
referirse a la atraccin gravitatoria de la Tierra.
Sir Isaac Newton y Albert Einstein ambos cambiaron la forma en que los
cientficos estudian el universo con sus nuevas teoras sobre la
gravitacin. Alguna vez has odo la historia sobre la manzana que cae
sobre la cabeza de Newton? Durante el siglo 17, Newton descubri que
la gravitacin es la fuerza que hace que una manzana al caer de un
rbol, as como mantiene a los planetas en rbita. Einstein estudi la
gravitacin durante el siglo 20. Aunque los cientficos como Newton y
Einstein han estudiado la gravitacin durante siglos y es fcil ver los
efectos de su fuerza, sigue siendo un misterio - que todava no
entendemos completamente cmo funciona la gravedad.