Question

differentiate between capital g and small g

Answer 1

G is Gravitational constant whereas g is the acceleration due to gravity.

• Gravitational Constant (G) - The mutually-operative force of attraction between two particles of unit mass kept unit distance apart is called the gravitational constant.

        Gravitational Force (F) = $\frac{Gm_{1}m_{2} }{r^{2} }$ (where G = Gravitational constant)

• Acceleration due to gravity (g) - Acceleration produced in a freely falling body under the action of gravity is called the acceleration due to gravity.

Answer 2

G is universal gravitational constant and g is gravitational acceleration.

Gravitational acceleration - 'g'

• Force is exerted by ground on any object in a downward direction due to gravity.
• The acceleration with which the ground pulls any body towards its centre is called gravitational acceleration.
• It varies from planets to planet. On earth, the gravitational acceleration is 9.8 $m/s^{2}$ which is often rounded off to 10 $m/s^{2}$.
• It depends on the distance between centre of masses of objects.

Universal Gravitational Constant - G

• It is a proportionality constant with a value of $6.67*10^{-11} Nm^{2} kg^{-2}$.
• It is constant throughout the universe.
• It has no dependency on masses of objects or distance between them.
• It can be equated to force of gravity present between two unit masses with unit distance between them.