BharatNotes Gravitation
nounUsage in a UPSC answer
In the absence of a credible federal counterweight, the steady gravitation of fiscal and administrative power towards the Union has progressively hollowed out the autonomy that a truly cooperative federalism presupposes.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Word Family
gravitational (adj), gravity (n), gravitate (v), gravitationally (adv), gravitas (n)
Root
Latin gravitātiōnem; gravitās = weight/heaviness; gravis = heavy + -ation = process
Etymology
From Latin gravitātiōnem, from gravitās ("weight, heaviness"), from gravis ("heavy").
Memory Hook
Think of GRAVE + -ATION: a "grave" (heavy) body pulls everything down towards it — gravis is Latin for "heavy," so gravitation is the heavy pull that draws masses together (and metaphorically draws you towards what attracts you).
How This Word Works in UPSC Writing
The mutual attraction between any two masses, proportional to the product of the masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them. Newton's achievement was the claim of universality, that the force drawing an apple down is the same force holding the Moon in orbit, which unified terrestrial and celestial mechanics that had previously been treated as separate domains. Two distinctions carry most of the marks. Small g, the acceleration due to gravity, varies with altitude, depth and latitude, being slightly less at the equator because of the Earth's bulge and rotation, whereas capital G, the universal gravitational constant, is the same everywhere. And weightlessness in orbit is not the absence of gravitation but continuous free fall, since a satellite and everything in it fall together around the Earth. Escape velocity from the Earth is about 11.2 kilometres per second and is independent of the escaping body's mass.
Don’t Confuse It With
Gravitation is the mutual attraction between masses generally, while gravity usually refers to the Earth's pull specifically. g is the acceleration due to gravity and varies with place, while G is the universal gravitational constant and does not. Mass is invariant while weight is the gravitational force on it and changes with location, so an object weighs less on the Moon without losing any mass. Weightlessness in orbit is free fall, not the absence of gravitation, which still acts and is precisely what curves the orbit.
Hindi Meaning
गुरुत्वाकर्षण (gurutvākarshan); गुरुत्व (gurutva) for gravity and पलायन वेग for escape velocity.
Common Questions
- What is the difference between g and G?
- Small g is the acceleration due to gravity, roughly 9.8 metres per second squared at the Earth's surface and varying with place, while capital G is the universal gravitational constant, the same throughout the universe.
- Why do astronauts float if gravity still acts on them?
- Because they are in continuous free fall around the Earth along with their spacecraft, so there is no supporting force to press against, which is felt as weightlessness.
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