Which law states that the gravitational force between two objects is proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of their distance apart?

The Law of Universal Gravitation, formulated by Sir Isaac Newton, describes the gravitational attraction between two masses. This law states that the force of gravity is directly proportional to the product of the masses of the two objects and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between their centers. Mathematically, this is expressed as:

[ F = G \frac{m_1 m_2}{r^2} ]

where ( F ) is the gravitational force, ( G ) is the gravitational constant, ( m_1 ) and ( m_2 ) are the masses of the objects, and ( r ) is the distance between their centers.

This understanding of gravity is foundational in physics and applies to a wide range of celestial and terrestrial phenomena, from the motion of planets around the sun to the experience of weight on Earth.

In contrast, Newton's Second Law pertains to the relationship between force, mass, and acceleration, and does not specifically address gravitational force. Electromagnetic Theory focuses on the forces between charged particles and fields, which is a different fundamental interaction than gravity. The Law of Conservation of Energy deals with the principle that energy cannot be created or destroyed, which again does not pertain to gravitational forces.