Re: Sauropods vs. Gravity

[NJPharris@aol.com]

In a message dated 3/4/02 3:06:31 AM Eastern Standard Time, 
dinoguy@sympatico.ca writes:

> Gravitation is the force of attraction between two bodies, such asthe Earth 
> and our body. The strength of this attraction depends onthe mass of the two 
> bodies and the distance between them.

Correct.  More precisely, it depends on the mass of the two bodies and the 
distance between their *centers of gravity*.  For a planet, the center of 
gravity is more or less at the center of the planet.  Thus, for a given mass, 
a greater volume (hence a greater distance between the planet's surface and 
its center of gravity) means less gravitational attraction between the planet 
and an object located on its surface.

But this is somewhat off-topic, so I'll shut up now...

--Nick P.