Square of distance in gate

2007/05/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Fisika
• Astronomia

Perhaps it is necessary to correct the most famous formula of Isaac Newton, which serves to calculate the force of gravity. The problem is the influence of distance. The force of gravity is increasingly weak as the distance between the two bodies increases, it is the speed at which it weakens. Newton realized that the doubling of distances did not weaken the force twice, but four times, so in the formula of force he put the square of distance in the divider.

Astronomers have used this formula to calculate, among other things, the movement of galaxies. But the calculated and measured do not coincide. Galaxies should have more mass to move according to Newton's gravitational force. So astronomers recognized that there is a lot of matter that is not seen in galaxies: dark matter.

The search for dark matter has not been successful. Many search attempts have been made but have not been able to detect this matter. This problem has another solution: Change the formula of Newton. It would not be a very big change. Physicists calculate that in the divider of Newton's formula, the square of the distance is not accurate; the gravitational force weakens slightly more slowly as the distance increases. This small change would be enough to explain the movement of galaxies. It is a very new proposal, so before changing Newton's formula, they want to see the effect of the new formulation on the orbit of Earth. If the physics hypothesis is correct, they will detect the effect and, in addition to Newton's formula, they will have to review the theory of dark matter.