Documentation states that “The Gravity block applies the given force to particles.”
But is the force a force and not acceleration ?
Usually when we talk about gravity it is acceleration.
Hi. Yes according to newton’s law: F = m*a
And in the case of gravity F = G * m1 * m2 / d^2 so m is removed from the equation.
What you’re actually setting with the gravity node is directly the acceleration a = G * m2 / d^2 (so 9.81 m/s^2 on earth surface)
This is the difference between the force block and the gravity block. The former divides the force by the mass to derive the acceleration while the latter does not (so you’re effectively directly setting the acceleration).
Doc is not very clear on that point, it’s true
The node should be called acceleration not gravity and the field should also be called acceleration (or value).
The node called gravity should use gravity value that is used by physics it should have field called multiplier.
Node library will become more and more consistent over time. It’s still currently the node to use if you want to set a gravity though.