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PIP’S STARHAVEN · FIELD NOTES · PARENTS & TEACHERS

Gravity: a pull between things

In the familiar Newtonian model, gravitational attraction increases with mass and weakens with distance. General relativity describes gravity more deeply through the geometry of spacetime.

Mass measures how much matter an object has; weight depends on the local gravitational field. Taking a rock to the Moon changes its weight but does not remove its mass.

Wonder about this

Is there no gravity where astronauts orbit Earth?

A science clue

There is still gravity. The spacecraft and astronauts are in continuous free fall together.