How is the acceleration of gravity calculated for planets?

1 Answer
Jan 31, 2016

You can use the expression of gravitational force.

Explanation:

We use a bit of the expression of Gravitational Force (in red):
Fg=GmMr2
Where:
G is the Universal Gravitational Constant;
M is the mass of the planet;
r is the radius of the planet.
(You can find these values in the literature).
Try with Earth you should find 9.8ms2.
For other planets simply choose the specific M and r.