What does gravitational mean?
Word: Gravitational
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Gravitational means to do with gravity, the force that pulls objects towards each other. Earth's gravitational pull is what keeps us on the ground and makes a dropped ball fall.
Word origin: From Latin gravis, 'heavy'.
How do you spell gravitational?
Syllables: grav - i - ta - tion - al
Tricky part: After grav comes an i and then ta. Students who rush write gravatational, swapping that first i for an a.
Watch out for: gravatational, gravitaional, gravitatonal
Memory tip: Gravity already has the i that follows grav, so gravitational keeps it.
Gravitational in a sentence
Example 1: The Moon's gravitational pull makes the sea at Marine Drive rise and fall each day.
Example 2: Jupiter has the strongest gravitational pull of all the planets in our solar system.
Example 3: Astronauts float on the space station even though Earth's gravitational pull still acts on them, because they are falling around the planet.
Fun Fact
The Moon's gravitational pull is only about one-sixth of Earth's, so a schoolbag that feels like 6 kg here would feel like about 1 kg there.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the incorrectly spelt word:
a) gravitational
b) presure
c) magnetism
d) acceleration
Show answer
b) presure. Pressure keeps the double s of press.
Word Cookie
Insert the correct pair of letters to form a word:
gravita_i_nal
a) s, o
b) t, i
c) c, o
d) t, o
Show answer
d) t, o. Gravitation ends in tion, the same ending you write in station and nation.
Mingle-Mangle
Form a meaningful word from the jumbled letters:
tavigraltonia
a) relational
b) gravitating
c) navigational
d) gravitational
Show answer
d) gravitational. Navigational has two n's and gravitating a second g; all thirteen letters fit only gravitational.
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
Scientists measure the gravitational pull of each planet with great acuracy.
a) planet
b) gravitational
c) acuracy
d) measure
Show answer
c) acuracy. Accuracy has a double c, as in accurate.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which of these happens because of a gravitational pull?
a) ice melting in the sun
b) a magnet picking up pins
c) rain falling to the ground
d) a kite rising in the wind
Show answer
c) rain falling to the ground
2. Which scientist is famous for explaining gravitational force after thinking about a falling apple?
a) Charles Darwin
b) Louis Pasteur
c) Thomas Edison
d) Isaac Newton
Show answer
d) Isaac Newton
