How does gravity affect objects with mass?

In the principles of physical science, gravity is defined as a universal force of attraction that acts between all bodies of matter. According to Newton’s law of gravitation, every particle of matter in the universe attracts every other particle with a force that is directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.123

This interaction has several key effects on objects with mass:

• Weight: An object’s weight is the gravitational force exerted on it by a massive body, such as the Earth. While an object's mass remains constant, its weight varies depending on its location and the gravitational field strength at that point.4
• Acceleration: Gravity causes objects to accelerate. In free-fall, all bodies accelerate at the same rate regardless of their mass, a phenomenon that implies a constant relationship between gravitational force and inertial mass. At the Earth's surface, this acceleration is approximately 9.8 meters per second per second.561
• Motion and Structure: On a larger scale, gravity controls the trajectories of bodies within the solar system and dictates the structure and evolution of stars and galaxies.1

Modern understanding is further refined by Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity, which describes gravity as a result of the curvature of space-time caused by mass.31