In physics, gravitational acceleration is the acceleration of an object caused by the force of gravity from another object. An interesting fact is that any object will accelerate towards a large object at the same rate, regardless of the mass of the object. On the surface of the Earth, all objects fall with an acceleration of one g, which is approximately equal to 9.80665 m/s² (32.17 ft/s²). This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... Acceleration is the time rate of change of velocity, and at any point on a velocity-time graph, it is given by the slope of the tangent to that point basicly. ... It has been suggested that Gravitational constant be merged into this article or section. ... g (also gee, g-force or g-load) is a non-SI unit of acceleration defined as exactly 9. ...
The gravitational acceleration towards an object with M mass is given by:
.
where:
r is the vector from center of the object to the location we are considering, and
Mathematically, gravitational acceleration is negative of the gradient of the gravitational potential. According to the law of universal gravitation, the attractive force between two bodies is proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them. ... For other uses, see Gradient (disambiguation). ... {{Portal|Energy}Potential energy is the energy available within a physical system due to an objects position in conjunction with a conservative force which acts upon it (such as the gravitational force or Coulomb force). ...
Gravitation is one of the four fundamental interactions in nature, the other three being the electromagnetic force, the weak nuclear force, and the strong nuclear force.
Moreover, gravitation is the reason for the very existence of the earth, the sun, and other celestial bodies; without it matter would not have coalesced into these bodies and life as we know it would not exist.
Gravitation is also responsible for keeping the earth and the other planets in their orbits around the sun, the moon in its orbit around the earth, for the formation of tides, and for various other natural phenomena that we observe.