Glossary term: Gravity
Description: Gravity is the mutual attraction of objects with mass. In classical mechanics, any object with a mass always exerts a force of attraction on another object with a mass. This attractive force is what we know as gravity. Einstein's theory of general relativity recasts gravity as a curvature of spacetime rather than a force. However the classical approximation of gravity is still accurate in most scenarios. The more massive an object is, the stronger its gravitational force/distortion of spacetime and hence the stronger the pull on other objects.
Related Terms:
See this term in other languages
Term and definition status: This term and its definition have been approved by a research astronomer and a teacher
The OAE Multilingual Glossary is a project of the IAU Office of Astronomy for Education (OAE) in collaboration with the IAU Office of Astronomy Outreach (OAO). The terms and definitions were chosen, written and reviewed by a collective effort from the OAE, the OAE Centers and Nodes, the OAE National Astronomy Education Coordinators (NAECs) and other volunteers. You can find a full list of credits here. All glossary terms and their definitions are released under a Creative Commons CC BY-4.0 license and should be credited to "IAU OAE".
Related Activities
Model of a Black Hole
astroEDU educational activity (links to astroEDU website) Description: Understand the mystery of black holes through a hands-on activity.License: CC-BY-4.0 Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) icons
Tags: Hands-on , Model , Interactive , Space-time , Black holes Age Ranges: 8-10 , 10-12 Education Level: Primary , Secondary Areas of Learning: Modelling , Social Research Costs: Medium Cost Duration: 1 hour Group Size: Group Skills: Asking questions , Developing and using models
Levitating Astronaut
astroEDU educational activity (links to astroEDU website) Description: Levitate an astronaut with the power of magnetism.License: CC-BY-4.0 Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) icons
Tags: Hands-on , Levitation , Magnets , Magnetism , Force , Charge Age Ranges: 8-10 , 10-12 Education Level: Middle School , Primary , Secondary Areas of Learning: Modelling Costs: Low Cost Group Size: Group Skills: Asking questions , Constructing explanations , Developing and using models , Planning and carrying out investigations
Impact Craters
astroEDU educational activity (links to astroEDU website) Description: A literal Earth-Shattering experimentLicense: CC-BY-4.0 Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) icons
Tags: History , Impact , Experiment Age Ranges: 10-12 , 12-14 , 14-16 Education Level: Middle School , Primary , Secondary Areas of Learning: Guided-discovery learning , Modelling , Traditional Science Experiment Costs: Low Cost Duration: 1 hour Group Size: Group Skills: Analysing and interpreting data , Asking questions , Constructing explanations , Engaging in argument from evidence , Using mathematics and computational thinking
Big Telescopes: Gravity
astroEDU educational activity (links to astroEDU website) Description: Observing what gravity is doing to the UniverseLicense: CC-BY-4.0 Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) icons
Tags: Experiment Age Ranges: 12-14 , 14-16 Education Level: Middle School , Secondary Areas of Learning: Guided-discovery learning , Interactive Lecture , Modelling Costs: High Cost Duration: 1 hour 30 mins Group Size: Group Skills: Analysing and interpreting data , Asking questions , Developing and using models , Planning and carrying out investigations
Dark matter & dark energy (Part 2) – Understanding the nature of dark matter and dark energy
astroEDU educational activity (links to astroEDU website) Description: Let's investigate the nature of dark matter and energy with gravitational lensing!License: CC-BY-4.0 Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) icons
Tags: Experiment , Invisible Age Ranges: 12-14 , 14-16 , 16-19 , 19+ Education Level: Informal , Middle School Areas of Learning: Guided-discovery learning , Interactive Lecture , Modelling , Problem-solving Costs: Medium Cost Duration: 45 mins Group Size: Group Skills: Constructing explanations , Developing and using models , Engaging in argument from evidence
Dark matter and Dark energy (Part 1) – Discovering the main components of the Universe
astroEDU educational activity (links to astroEDU website) Description: Lets' investigate gravity, dark matter and dark energy with some very simple experiments!License: CC-BY-4.0 Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) icons
Tags: Experiment , Galaxies Age Ranges: 12-14 , 14-16 , 16-19 , 19+ Education Level: Informal , Middle School Areas of Learning: Guided-discovery learning , Interactive Lecture , Modelling , Observation based , Other , Problem-solving Costs: Low Cost Duration: 45 mins Group Size: Group Skills: Constructing explanations , Developing and using models , Engaging in argument from evidence , Planning and carrying out investigations
Hunting for black holes
astroEDU educational activity (links to astroEDU website) Description: How do astronomers detect invisible black holes?License: CC-BY-4.0 Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) icons
Tags: Model , Experiment Age Ranges: 12-14 Education Level: Informal , Middle School Areas of Learning: Modelling , Observation based , Problem-solving , Social Research Costs: Low Cost Duration: 45 mins Group Size: Group Skills: Constructing explanations , Developing and using models
What is a black hole?
astroEDU educational activity (links to astroEDU website) Description: What are black holes and what would happen if the Sun was replaced by one of them?License: CC-BY-4.0 Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) icons
Tags: Model , Experiment , Investigation Age Ranges: 12-14 Education Level: Informal , Middle School Areas of Learning: Discussion Groups , Interactive Lecture , Modelling , Observation based , Problem-solving , Social Research Costs: Low Cost Duration: 45 mins Group Size: Group Skills: Constructing explanations , Developing and using models , Engaging in argument from evidence , Planning and carrying out investigations
The gravity battle
astroEDU educational activity (links to astroEDU website) Description: Who will win in the epic battle between gravity and other forces?License: CC-BY-4.0 Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) icons
Age Ranges: 8-10 , 10-12 , 12-14 , 14-16 , 16-19 Education Level: Informal , Middle School , Primary , Secondary Areas of Learning: Fun activity , Guided-discovery learning , Observation based , Other , Social Research Costs: Low Cost Duration: 1 hour Group Size: Group Skills: Asking questions , Constructing explanations , Engaging in argument from evidence , Planning and carrying out investigations
