(https://www.nasa.gov)(https://science.nasa.

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What is gravity? tray)

Gravityistheforcebywhichaplanetorotherbodydrawsobjectstowarditscenter.Theforceof
gravitykeepsalloftheplanetsinorbitaroundthesun.

What else does gravity do?

Whydoyoulandonthegroundwhenyoujumpupinsteadoffloatingoffintospace?Whydo
thingsfalldownwhenyouthrowthemordropthem?Theanswerisgravity:aninvisibleforcethat
pullsobjectstowardeachother.Earth'sgravityiswhatkeepsyouonthegroundandwhatmakes
thingsfall.

Ananimationofgravityatwork.AlbertEinsteindescribedgravityasacurveinspacethatwrapsaroundanobjectsuchasastar
oraplanet.Ifanotherobjectisnearby,itispulledintothecurve.Imagecredit:NASA

Anythingthathasmassalsohasgravity.Objectswithmoremasshavemoregravity.Gravityalso
getsweakerwithdistance.So,thecloserobjectsaretoeachother,thestrongertheirgravitational
pullis.
Earth'sgravitycomesfromallitsmass.Allitsmassmakesacombinedgravitationalpullonallthe
massinyourbody.That'swhatgivesyouweight.Andifyouwereonaplanetwithlessmassthan
Earth,youwouldweighlessthanyoudohere.
 Imagecredit:NASA

YouexertthesamegravitationalforceonEarththatitdoesonyou.ButbecauseEarthissomuch
moremassivethanyou,yourforcedoesntreallyhaveaneffectourplanet.

Gravity in our universe

Gravityiswhatholdstheplanetsinorbit(/geoorbits)aroundthesunandwhatkeepsthemoon
inorbitaroundEarth.Thegravitationalpullofthemoonpullstheseastowardsit,causingthe
oceantides.Gravitycreatesstarsandplanetsbypullingtogetherthematerialfromwhichtheyare
made.
Gravitynotonlypullsonmassbutalsoonlight.AlbertEinsteindiscoveredthisprinciple.Ifyou
shineaflashlightupwards,thelightwillgrowimperceptiblyredderasgravitypullsit.Youcan'tsee
thechangewithyoureyes,butscientistscanmeasureit.
Blackholes(/blackholes)packsomuchmassintosuchasmallvolumethattheirgravityis
strongenoughtokeepanything,evenlight,fromescaping.

What is a black hole?

(/blackholes)

Watchthisvideotofindout
moreabouttheseareasof
immensegravity!(/black
holes)

Gravity on Earth
Gravityisveryimportanttous.WecouldnotliveonEarthwithoutit.Thesun'sgravitykeepsEarth
inorbitaroundit,keepingusatacomfortabledistancetoenjoythesun'slightandwarmth.Itholds
downouratmosphereandtheairweneedtobreath.Gravityiswhatholdsourworldtogether.
However,gravityisntthesameeverywhereonEarth.Gravityisslightlystrongeroverplaceswith
moremassundergroundthanoverplaceswithlessmass.NASAusestwospacecrafttomeasure
thesevariationsinEarthsgravity.ThesespacecraftarepartoftheGravityRecoveryandClimate
Experiment(GRACE)mission.

TheGRACEmissionhelpsscientiststocreatemapsofgravityvariationsonEarth.Areasinbluehaveslightlyweakergravityand
areasinredhaveslightlystrongergravity.Imagecredit:NASA/UniversityofTexasCenterforSpaceResearch

GRACEdetectstinychangesingravityovertime.Thesechangeshaverevealedimportantdetails
aboutourplanet.Forexample,GRACEmonitorschangesinsealevelandcandetectchangesin
Earthscrustbroughtonbyearthquakes.

articlelastupdatedMay4,2017

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