User talk:Arthur Hinks

I quote from http://en2.wikepedia.org/wiki/Gravity. The last sentence under heading 'Newton's Law of Universal Gravity' reads:

"Strictly speaking, this law applies only to point-like objects. If the objects have spatial extent, the true force has to be found by integrating the forces between the various points." Then not another word about it.

I take it that a mass like Earth pulls an apple in all downward directions right up to the horizontal range such as a nearby mountain might exert and that the integration has to be less than the Newton figure because of these deviations.

Is my interpretation correct and is this discrepancy generally recognised?

I feel that generally speaking, people reckon as Newton did, that all the mass can be assumed to be at the centre of gravity.

Arthur Hinks.