What is the force that attracts a body toward the center of the Earth, or toward any other body having mass?

What is the force that attracts a body toward the center of the Earth, or toward any other body having mass?

• A. Gravitational forces
• B. Friction
• C. Normal force
• D. Buoyant force

Answer: (A)

Gravity is the force that attracts masses toward each other, pulling objects toward the center of the Earth (or toward any other mass). It acts along the line joining the centers of mass and is what we feel as weight. Near the surface, this force has magnitude m times g, with g about 9.8 m/s^2, and it dominates the downward pull on you. The other forces listed—friction, the normal force, and buoyant force—are different kinds of contact or fluid forces and do not pull objects toward the Earth's center in the same universal way. So gravity is the correct explanation for why objects are pulled toward the center of the Earth.

Gravity is the force that attracts masses toward each other, pulling objects toward the center of the Earth (or toward any other mass). It acts along the line joining the centers of mass and is what we feel as weight. Near the surface, this force has magnitude m times g, with g about 9.8 m/s^2, and it dominates the downward pull on you. The other forces listed—friction, the normal force, and buoyant force—are different kinds of contact or fluid forces and do not pull objects toward the Earth's center in the same universal way. So gravity is the correct explanation for why objects are pulled toward the center of the Earth.