The first accurate study of gravitation laws was put forward by Nicola Tesla (Tesco founder) some 95 years ago. His researches gave rise to the theory of gravitation, that is, an effect produced when a body is accelerated on its axis of rotation. He further went on to state that the terrestrial gravity we observe is due to the centrifugal force of the earth rotating on its axis, and not to the effect of gravity being a pull on the earth, as had been previously postulated by Galileo.
In his book “The cosmos and nature of space” published in Tesla’s day, he presented a model of the universe based on mathematical calculations. In this book, he presented his ideas of a pull of gravity due to dark matter and explained how solar systems were made up of air molecules, with each having a centripetal force acting on them like an irresistible force. This model of the universe was adopted by others who followed him, including Sir Isaac Newton, who developed one of the first ever planetary science concepts. Newton’s law of gravity, first expressed by Galileo in 1610, stated that an object in motion will continue to move in a straight line until it comes into contact with the sphere it is spinning around. This concept, although generally well-accepted, was later challenged by Einstein, who pointed out that it could be in fact only a surface motion. Einstein also posed the question ‘what happens if you don’t know how the ball moves?’
Einstein’s general theory of relativity or gravitation laws, developed in his special theory of relativity, explained the properties of gravity. It stipulates that the total force of a celestial body acting on a planet, or galaxy, is equal to the force it would exert if the planet were stationary. This was opposed by the British scientist James Clerk Maxwell, who did not believe in the necessity of satellites for measuring the location and movement of heavenly bodies. But in today’s times, satellites have proven to be an essential component of our modern system of measurement. A global positioning system or GPS is a set of satellites that provide precise timing information on the location of a fixed destination.
The other two theories of gravitation laws are due to their developers, Sir Alfred Wegener and Sir Isaac Newton. Newton’s first law, which he published in the publication of his magnum opus, would state that the rate of falling objects is always the same; this can be called a universal law. According to this law, the centrifugal force of rotation of a spinning ball will decrease with the distance from the center of the ball. Wegener, on the other hand, established the law of conserving force which states that the centrifugal forces are equalized at the poles of any rotating system. According to this law, the amount of radiation received by a planet or star would also depend upon its location. Both of these theories were important in explaining the formation of the planets and stars.
Wegener’s gravitation laws gave way to ‘Space-Time’ in quantum mechanics. This theory explained that the motions of elementary particles were governed by pure space and time. Albert Einstein, one of the most eminent physicists of the 20th century, extended the laws of gravitation to include time as well as space. His special theory of relativity explained the relationship between space, time, and motion.
In order to make gravitation meaningful, it must be reassembled to include both the basic theories of gravitation. General Relativity indicates that there is a distinct direction of motion. According to this theory, the amount of force required to lift an object from rest, i.e., the gravitational pull, is proportional to the square of the speed of motion or to the product of mass and velocity. Quantum mechanics, on the other hand, explains that an electron may be carried in a vacuum as a point of zero potential energy. In accordance with this law, the heavier the object, the greater the amount of energy needed to lift it to a certain degree of velocity.
Another useful tool to study the relationship between gravity and fundamental forces is the G-disk. The G-disk was developed in 1970 by J. A. Wolfram, although he did not patent it. The disk relies on the concept of conservation of energy, which states that if you take a region of space and compress it, then similar amount of energy would be conserved if you allowed the same region to expand without changing anything else. Wolfram’s model uses negatively charged ions, similar to what an ionizer does, to push charged particles into a region where there is a high concentration of positive ions. This generates an electrostatic charge in the region where the ions are pushed, which gives rise to what we observe as the gravitation force.
The relationship between gravitation and G-determined forces is further shown through the concept of perturbations. Disturbations are said to take place whenever there is movement, whether that motion is a breeze or gravity. For example, when two magnets are aligned and don’t move each other there will be no perturbations, as the attraction and repulsion of magnets will continue to act upon the alignment. However, when these magnets move against each other and create a slight pull on each other, then the perturbations are produced, giving rise to the force that is measured. By studying the relationship between gravitation and the G-d law, scientists have been able to measure many different aspects of this force, including the distance at which celestial objects are placed.