Around 1600, the scientific method began to take root. René Descartes started over with a more fundamental view, … See more

In modern language, the law states the following:
Assuming SI units, F is measured in newtons (N), m1 and m2 in kilograms (kg), r in meters (m), and the constant G is 6.67430(15… See more

If the bodies in question have spatial extent (as opposed to being point masses), then the gravitational force between them is calculated by summing the contributions of the notional point masses that constitute the bodies. … See more

Newton's law of universal gravitation can be written as a vector equation to account for the direction of the gravitational force as well as its magnitude. In this formula, quantities in bold represent vectors.
• F21 … See more

The gravitational field is a vector field that describes the gravitational force that would be applied on an object in any given point in space, per unit mass. It is actually equal to the gravitational acceleration at that point.
It is a gene… See more

Newton's description of gravity is sufficiently accurate for many practical purposes and is therefore widely used. Deviations from it are small when the dimensionless quantities and are both much less than o… See more