Atomic Attraction

Abstract

THE theory of universal gravitation, as I understand it, asserts that the mutual attraction exerted by any two bodies, A and B, is dependent only on their respective masses and on the distance between them, being entirely uninfluenced by the presence of other bodies even in the immediate neighbourhood of A or B. Thus at a given moment the Earth and Venus, being in certain definite positions, exert upon each other a certain force of attraction; the attraction thus taking place between the masses of the two planets would be unaltered by the removal of the Moon from the sphere of action; the gravitation of the Earth and the Moon does not therefore tie up any portion of the attractive energy of the Earth, and so diminish the force with which other bodies gravitate towards it.