Grade 12 Physics · The inverse square
The law that reaches everywhere
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The law that reaches everywhere

Newton's claim was outrageous and correct: the apple and the Moon obey the same rule. Every pair of masses in the universe attracts, and the size of that pull is F=Gm1m2r2F = \dfrac{G m_1 m_2}{r^2} — read aloud, F equals big G, m-one m-two, over r squared.

Letter by letter, because a formula with undefined letters is just decoration. FF is the gravitational force in newtons, and it is the SAME size on both bodies — the Earth pulls you down exactly as hard as you pull the Earth up. m1m_1 and m2m_2 are the two masses in kilograms; the subscripts 1 and 2 only name the two bodies, and swapping them changes nothing. rr is the distance between their centres, in metres — centre to centre, never surface to surface. And G=6.67×1011 Nm2/kg2G = 6.67 \times 10^{-11}\ \mathrm{N \cdot m^2/kg^2} is the universal constant: the same number here, in this galaxy, and in every other. Whichever letter the question leaves blank is the one you solve for.