{"id":989,"date":"2010-09-29T09:08:00","date_gmt":"2010-09-29T07:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kids.esa.int\/the_moon_the_earth_and_gravity\/"},"modified":"2026-10-08T00:34:34","modified_gmt":"2026-10-07T22:34:34","slug":"the_moon_the_earth_and_gravity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kids.esa.int\/nb\/the_moon_the_earth_and_gravity\/","title":{"rendered":"M\u00e5nen, Jorden og tyngdekraften"},"content":{"rendered":"
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What would happen if an aspiring villain, a scientist who\u2019s a little too old and deaf, and a group of clumsy and spiteful assistants ventured into the construction of rockets and anti-gravitational weapons? You can find out in Despicable Me, Universal Pictures\u2019 3D animated feature coming out in cinemas on 15 October. In the film, our odd heroes struggle with the Moon, its mass, and the force of gravity.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

So let\u2019s just have a little talk about these key concepts in order to understand better what happens in the film. Have you ever seen a fruit or object falling from a tree? And have you ever tried to throw a stone and watch it fall? This force that \u2018brings down\u2019 things is called the force of gravity.<\/p>\n

\"Gru\"
Gru<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We are constantly attracted to the Earth by its gravitational force , That is the reason why we always keep our feet on the ground. We don\u2019t need to be in direct contact with Earth to be attracted by it however; not being too far away is just enough for the same forces to act. This is why our own planet orbits around the Sun, and the Moon orbits around the Earth.<\/p>\n

Tyngdekraften bestemmes av et objekts masse. Tyngdekraften mellom to objekter er proporsjonal med objektenes masse, og den avtar sv\u00e6rt raskt s\u00e5 snart vi skiller dem fra hverandre. Faktisk tiltrekker vi ogs\u00e5 objekter med \u2018v\u00e5r\u2019 tyngdekraft, men vi er for lette til \u00e5 kunne se virkningene! Solen er imidlertid s\u00e5 stor at den klarer \u00e5 holde oss n\u00e6r seg selv om den er s\u00e5 langt unna. M\u00e5nen ut\u00f8ver ogs\u00e5 sin tyngdekraft; siden den er mindre og lettere enn Jorden, ville vi, hvis vi kunne veie oss p\u00e5 den, oppdage at vi veier omtrent en sjettedel av det vi veier p\u00e5 Jorden.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

Man kan sp\u00f8rre seg hvorfor m\u00e5nen ikke faller ned p\u00e5 jorden, slik et eple faller fra treet. \u00c5rsaken er at m\u00e5nen aldri st\u00e5r stille. Den beveger seg hele tiden rundt oss. Uten tyngdekraften fra Jorden ville den bare sveve bort ut i verdensrommet. Denne kombinasjonen av hastighet og avstand fra Jorden gj\u00f8r at M\u00e5nen alltid befinner seg i balanse mellom \u00e5 falle og \u00e5 r\u00f8mme. Hvis den var raskere, ville den r\u00f8mme; var den noe tregere, ville den falle!<\/p>\n

We said the force of gravity depends on distance too. If we were to distance ourselves enough, we could escape its hold. That\u2019s what we try to do with spacecraft. We need to reach and exceed the so-called \u2018escape velocity\u2019, that is about 11.2 km\/s (at such velocity, we would be able to move from London to New York in just ten minutes!). Once a shuttle reaches this velocity, it is free to travel in the Solar System.<\/p>\n

\"Minions\"
Minions<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Inside an orbiting shuttle we do not feel the gravitational force of the Earth. Objects don\u2019t fall, they float; if you jump up, you don\u2019t come back down. A similar thing also happens to astronauts when they are in space stations orbiting the Earth.<\/p>\n

In Despicable Me you will see rockets flying and the effects of gravity on the Moon. Gru has a group of assistants called Minions who will help him in his quest to steal the Moon and become the most famous villain in the world. We hope you enjoy the film!<\/p>\n