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The acceleration due to gravity in the neighborhood of some mass is:

A = G m/R2

A = the acceleration of gravity
m = the mass of the mass
R = your distance from its center

==> G is the "gravitational constant".

Without it, you would know that the acceleration is 'proportional' to the mass of the mass, and 'inversely proportional' to the square of your distance from it. But you couldn't calculate an actual number without a 'proportionality constant'. That's what 'G' is.

A More Complete Answer:

The gravitational constant is a universal number that applies equally in all places, at all times, and upon all objects. It is expressed as:

  • 6.67300 × 10-11 m3 kg-1 s-2

Acceleration due to gravity is the phenomenom in which all masses are attracted to all other masses. The force due to gravity is expressed as:

  • Fg = Gm1m2/R2

where:

  • Fg is the force due to gravity;
  • G is the universal gravitational constant, above;
  • m1 is the mass of the first object;
  • m2 is the mass of the second object; and
  • R is the distance from the centers of the two objects.

Acceleration is expressed as

  • Ag = Fg/m1

where:

  • Ag is the acceleration due to gravity;
  • Fg is the Force due to gravity, from the equation above; and
  • m1 is the mass of the object being accelerated.

Subsituting the equation for the force due to gravity (Fg) in the above equation for acceleration due to gravity (Ag), we get:

  • Ag = Gm2/R2

Remember that m2 is the mass of the other object (say, planet Earth). Notice, too, that m1 (your mass) cancels out completely. So the acceleration of your body due to gravity depends on the mass of planet Earth, but does not at all depend upon you own mass, or weight. That means that all things, regardless of how heavy or light, experience the same acceleration due to gravity at sea level on planet Earth.

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Q: What is the Difference between gravitational constant and acceleration due to gravity?
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What is the difference between gravitational acceleration and acceleration?

Gravitational acceleration is simply acceleration due to gravity.


How are constant speed and constant acceleration different?

There is a huge difference between constant speed and constant acceleration. Constant speed is when the object is travelling constant, no change in its velocity and acceleration or in other words no extra force to speed up. Constant acceleration when the object is acceleration constant, it means that the speed of the object is change at the same rate each second. The acceleration rate at which the object is travelling is constant. for example, when a car is stationary at a traffic light and it starts acceleration, picking up speed but the rate of acceleration will not constant because the amount of force applied differs each second due to the acceleration rate.


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the difference between a constant in a graph and a constant in a experiment is that when on a graph, the constant is the thing that changes, and in a experiment it is the part that stays the same.


What apparatus was used by Cavendish to discover the universal gravitation constant?

The gravitational constant denoted by letter G, is an empirical physical constant involved in the calculation(s) of gravitational force between two bodies

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What is the difference between gravitational acceleration and acceleration?

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What is the difference between uniform acceleration and constant acceleration?

Uniform acceleration refers to a situation where an object's velocity changes by the same amount in each unit of time. Constant acceleration, on the other hand, means that the object's acceleration remains the same throughout its motion. Uniform acceleration leads to a constant increase in velocity, while constant acceleration implies that the rate of change of velocity remains consistent.


Differentiate between universal gravitation constant abbreviated as G and acceleration due to gravity abbreviated as g.?

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How are constant speed and constant acceleration different?

There is a huge difference between constant speed and constant acceleration. Constant speed is when the object is travelling constant, no change in its velocity and acceleration or in other words no extra force to speed up. Constant acceleration when the object is acceleration constant, it means that the speed of the object is change at the same rate each second. The acceleration rate at which the object is travelling is constant. for example, when a car is stationary at a traffic light and it starts acceleration, picking up speed but the rate of acceleration will not constant because the amount of force applied differs each second due to the acceleration rate.


What is the difference between constant speed and constant acceleration?

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