How does gravity differ on earth compared to other places in the universe?

1 Answer
Jan 3, 2016

See explanation for some example calculations...

Explanation:

The general equation for gravitational force is:

#F = G (m_1 m_2) / r^2#

where #G = 6.674×10^(−11) N(m"/"kg)^2# is the universal gravitational constant (usually called "big G"), #m_1# and #m_2# are the masses of the two objects involved and #r# is the distance between them. So gravity is proportional to mass and inversely proportional to the square of the distance.

For example, Jupiter is about #11# times the diameter of the Earth and about #1,300# times the volume, but it is less dense than the Earth, so its mass is just #318# times that of Earth. So at the surface of Jupiter the gravity is about #318/11^2 ~~ 2.5# times that we experience on the surface of Earth.

The sun is about #109# times the diameter of the Earth so about #1,300,000# times the volume, but is less dense than the Earth, so its mass is #333,000# times the mass of the Earth. So at the surface of the Sun the gravity is about #(333,000)/109^2 ~~ 28# times the surface gravity on Earth.

A white dwarf has approximately the mass of our sun, but the size of the Earth. That means that its surface gravity would be of the order of #333,000# times Earth surface gravity.