| gravitation |
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The attractive force that appears to act between all masses. According to the theory formulated by Isaac Newton, the force between two masses is proportional to their product divided by the square of the distance between them. In General Relativity, gravitation is viewed as curvature in the geometry of spacetime. Gravitation, one of the four fundamental interactions in physics, finds particular application in astronomy because very large masses (stars and galaxies) are commonplace and because it is the only force that needs to be considered in models of the universe. See also: cosmology. |