Question

Difference between universal gravitational constant and acceleration due to gravity.

Answer 1

Hint: The acceleration of the free fall of a body under the influence of Earth’s gravitational pull is known as acceleration due to gravity. The Universal Gravitational constant refers to the force of attraction due to two bodies due to their masses and the distance between them.

Complete step-by-step solution:
The difference between acceleration due to gravity and universal gravitational constant is given in the table below:

Acceleration due to gravity ($g$)	Universal Gravitational constant ($G$)
1. It is not a constant value and is defined at a certain point.	1. It is a universal Constant value throughout space and time.
2 It is denoted by ‘$g$’.	2. It is denoted by ‘$G$’.
3. Acceleration due to gravity g is a vector quantity.	3. It is a scalar quantity.
4. The value of ‘$g$’ is $9.8{\text{ }}\dfrac{m}{{{s^2}}}$ for Earth.	4. The value of ‘$G$’ is $6.67 \times {10^{ - 11}}{\text{ }}\dfrac{{N.{m^2}}}{{k{g^2}}}$
5. It's unit is $\dfrac{m}{{{s^2}}}$.	5. It's unit is $\dfrac{{N.{m^2}}}{{k{g^2}}}$.
6. ‘$g$’ is a acceleration that is involved whenever an object is falling or ascending in the Earth's atmosphere	6 ‘$G$’ is a constant the value of which was obtained by Henry Cavendish by the force of attraction between two objects

Note: Acceleration due to gravity can also be termed as the rate of increase of velocity per unit time due to Earth’s gravitational pull. The accurate experimental value of Universal Gravitational constant is difficult to find. This is because they are very weak forces considered to be fundamental ones.