Newton's law of universal gravitation states that every point mass in the universe attracts every other point mass with a force that is directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.
I am seriously confused by "point mass" in this case. I have studied this countless number of times and suddenly today I feel confused about it.
I have two main questions here: -
1) After Newton found this law from Kepler's observations how did he deduce that every "point mass" attracts?
2) What do you mean by "point mass" anyway?
P.S. - I don't know why I always feel gaps in my understanding of physics and math concepts. Once in a while I come up with these crazy questions.
I am seriously confused by "point mass" in this case. I have studied this countless number of times and suddenly today I feel confused about it.
I have two main questions here: -
1) After Newton found this law from Kepler's observations how did he deduce that every "point mass" attracts?
2) What do you mean by "point mass" anyway?
P.S. - I don't know why I always feel gaps in my understanding of physics and math concepts. Once in a while I come up with these crazy questions.