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Newton's law of universal gravitation

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An artist’s illustration of the Gravity Probe B satellite orbiting Earth, helping scientists study the shape of space and time.

Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation

Newton's law of universal gravitation tells us about the special force called gravity. This force pulls everything toward everything else. The bigger something is, the stronger its pull. The farther away things are, the weaker the pull becomes.

This idea was first written down by a clever scientist named Isaac Newton. He lived a long time ago and shared his thoughts in a big book. Newton showed that the same force that makes an apple fall from a tree also keeps the Moon orbiting around the Earth.

Even though a smarter idea about gravity was later created by Albert Einstein, Newton's law still works very well for many things we see every day. It helps us understand how planets move around the Sun and why objects fall to the ground.

Scientists have done many tests to learn more about gravity. They use special tools to measure how strong this pull is. Thanks to Newton’s work, we know a lot about the wonderful force that holds our world together.

Images

A diagram showing the different layers inside the Earth, from the outer crust to the inner core.
An animation showing gravity field lines near Earth, helping to visualize how gravity works.

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This article is a child-friendly adaptation of the Wikipedia article on Newton's law of universal gravitation, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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