# Gravitational Acceleration

Written by Jerry Ratzlaff on . Posted in Classical Mechanics

Gravitational acceleration, abbreviated as g, also called acceleration of gravity or acceleration due to gravity, is the force on an object caused only by gravity.

On Earth, the gravitational acceleration is a constant:

g = 9.80665 $$\large{\frac{rad}{sec^2}}$$ (Metric)

g = 32.1740 $$\large{\frac{ft}{sec^2)}}$$ (English)

Various formulas that include the constant for the acceleration of gravity, on Earth are below.  Note, these are all arranged to solve for the constant but can also be rearranged to solve for any of the other variables, if they are unknown.

## Gravitational acceleration formula

$$\large{ g = \frac{G \; m}{r^2} }$$
Symbol English Metric
$$\large{ g }$$ = gravitational acceleration  $$\large{\frac{ft}{sec^2}}$$ $$\large{\frac{m}{s^2}}$$
$$\large{ m }$$ = mass $$\large{ lbm }$$ $$\large{ kg }$$
$$\large{ r }$$ = radius $$\large{ ft }$$ $$\large{ m }$$
$$\large{ G }$$ = universal gravitational constant $$\large{\frac{lbf-ft^2}{lbm^2}}$$  $$\large{\frac{N -m^2}{kg^2}}$$