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🧪 Science 🧲 Forces and motion

Gravity

Gravity

📖 In short

Gravity is an invisible force that pulls things toward each other. It makes an apple fall to the ground, keeps us standing on the ground instead of floating in the air, keeps the Moon going around the Earth and the Earth going around the Sun.

🤩 Did you know?

  • Einstein announced his new theory of gravity in 1915.
  • One of Einstein's predictions was confirmed during a solar eclipse in 1919.
  • Astronauts on the space station float because they're constantly falling around the Earth.
  • The Moon's gravity is about a sixth of the Earth's.

🔎 Find out more

🌟 Everything pulls everything

All objects pull on each other, but the pull is only strong when the object is huge, like the Earth and the Sun. That's why we don't feel a chair or table pulling on us.

🔍 Newton and the apple

The scientist Isaac Newton wondered why an apple always falls down. And he realized that the same force pulling the apple also pulls the Moon and keeps it going around the Earth.

💡 Weight

Your weight is the force with which the Earth pulls your body. On the Moon gravity is six times weaker, so if you stood on the Moon you'd be much lighter and could jump very high!

🎯 Tides

The Moon pulls on the water of the seas, so the water rises up the beaches and then goes down again about twice a day. This is called the tide.

🧩 Test yourself

1 What force makes things fall to the ground?

2 What does the Moon's pull on the seas cause?

3 Which picture shows “Gravity”?

🧪 Discover more

📷 Picture sources: Wikimedia Commons