Does acceleration due to gravity depend upon the mass of the body?
No, acceleration due to gravity do not depend on the mass of the body.
Explanation:
The acceleration produced in a freely falling body by the gravitational pull of the earth is called the acceleration due to gravitation.
We know that,
Force = Mass × Acceleration
F = m × a
a = …..1
Where F is the force on the object of mass m dropped from a distance r from the centre of earth of mass M.
So, force exerted by the earth on the object is
F = …..2
M = Mass of Earth
m = mass of object
r = distance of object from centre of earth
Now, from equation 1 and 2,
a =
a =
Now, from above,
a = g = Acceleration due to gravity
We also see that, although force is depending on the mass of the object,
F =
But acceleration due to gravity is independent of the mass.
g =