How is the acceleration of gravity calculated for planets?

1 Answer
Gió
Jan 31, 2016

You can use the expression of gravitational force.

Explanation:

We use a bit of the expression of Gravitational Force (in red):
#F_g=color(red)(G)*(mcolor(red)(M))/color(red)(r^2)#
Where:
#G# is the Universal Gravitational Constant;
#M# is the mass of the planet;
#r# is the radius of the planet.
(You can find these values in the literature).
Try with Earth you should find #9.8m/s^2#.
For other planets simply choose the specific #M# and #r#.

Related questions
See all questions in Astronomy Basics
Impact of this question
5636 views around the world
You can reuse this answer
Creative Commons License