Question

What is a gravitational field and how its strength be measured

Answer 1

A gravitational field is the field generated by a massive body, that extends into the entire space. Every object with mass m experiences a force F when immersed in a gravitational field. The intensity of the force is equal to

`F= (GM)/(r^2) m`
where
`G=6.67 \cdot 10^(-11) m^3 Kg^(-1) s^(-2)` is the gravitational constant, M is the mass of the source of the field (e.g. the mass of a planet), and r is the distance between the object and the source of the field. The force is always attractive.

A possible way to measure the intensity of a gravitational field is by measuring the acceleration a of the object immersed in this field. In fact, for Newton's second law we have:

`F=ma`
but since

`F= (GM)/(r^2) m`
we can write

`a = (GM)/(r^2)`
Therefore, by measuring the acceleration of the object, we also measure the intensity of the field.