What is the physical meaning of the gravitational constant?
The gravitational constant, or in other words, Newton’s constant is a fundamental physical constant and describes the gravitational interaction of bodies in a gravitational field.
This constant is found on the basis of Newton’s law of universal gravitation. According to this law, we know that the force of gravitational attraction between two material points located at a certain distance from each other is proportional to the masses of these bodies and is inversely proportional to the square of the distance. I.e:
F = G * (m1 * m2) / r2
where:
F is the force of attraction of two bodies;
m1, m2 are the masses of the bodies under consideration;
r – distances at which these bodies are located;
G is the gravitational constant.
Based on this, we can say that this constant is calculated as:
G = F * r ^ 2 / (m1 * m2)
This physical quantity is constant, that is, constant, and in the international system of measurements (SI) it has a meaning:
G = 6.67 * 10 -11 N * m2 / kg2
The physical meaning of the gravitational constant
Based on the above, we can answer the question of the problem. That is, we can say that the physical meaning of the gravitational constant is that this value is numerically equal to the force of attraction of two particles, the mass of which is 1 kg, in a gravitational field located at a distance of 1 meter from each other.
