Gravity and it's Effects

 Hi! What do you know about gravity? It's basically all around us, like oxygen. We can feel it's effects every day. It makes sure you or just everyday objects aren't floating away. It's also what Sir Isaac Newton formulated when an apple fell on his head. But, back then he didn't realise what type of effects it would have on your body.

Changes To Body

Do you suffer from varicose veins, swollen feet or an aching back? If you responded yes to any of these questions, you are a victim of the inescapable, compressive force of gravity. The results of gravity's constant downward pull on our faces, shoulders, backs, necks, chests, organs, legs and feet are painfully obvious to most of us. Gravity never gives up. We will all experience change to our bodies as a result of life on this planet. The most noticeable effect of gravity on the body is compression of the spine. 

1. Is gravity the same on all planets?

Definitely not. It all comes down to depending on the size, mass and density of the object, the gravitational force it exerts varies. More mass gives you more gravity. For example, if you go to Jupiter you'll be compressed to the size of a basketball due to the strong gravitational pull.

2. How is gravity related to mass?

Like I mentioned before, more mass equals more gravity. Since Mercury is the smallest planet, it has the least about of gravity. Jupiter is the biggest planet, so it has the most amount of gravity.

3. Which planet would you weight the most on? The least?

Bigger the planet, the more you'll weigh. For example, if you weighed 50kg on Mercury you'd weigh 18.9kg but on Jupiter, you'd weigh 117kg. Big difference, I know. 

4. How would your life be different if you lived on a planet with higher gravity? With lower gravity?

Living on a planet with higher gravity would come with more health-related issues. Humans would turn out to be shorter. On the other hand, living in a place with lower gravity would make us weaker, exercise would be necessary in order to maintain a healthy body.

5. What's the difference between mass and weight?

Mass: If you could count up the number of protons, neutrons, and electrons in an object (which you probably can't), this would be a measure of the mass. The mass is essentially "how much stuff" is in an object. Common units for mass are the kilogram and the gram. 

Weight: There is a gravitational interaction between objects that have mass. If you consider an object interacting with the Earth, this force is called the weight. The unit for weight is the Newton (same as for any other force).

Most humans on the surface of the Earth can get away with saying either "weight" or "mass" because they are proportional to each other. If you know the mass of something (m), then the weight (W) can be found as:

6. How do boats float?

The oxygen inside a ship is much less dense than water.  The average density of the total volume of the ship and everything inside of it (including the air) must be less than the same volume of water. As a ship is set in water, it pushes down and displaces an amount of water equal to its weight. The closer the total density of the ship is to the density of the same volume of water, the greater the amount of the ship that will be in the water. If the average density of the ship is greater than the density of water, then the ship will sink beneath the surface of the water.