Gravity

Gravity is an acceleration.

To get a force, gravity, g, must be acting on an mass, m, so if someone says “gravitational force” they are referring to the product “mg”.

You may hear the expression that gravity is a weak force (cough: “mg”!) Here’s a test. Take a magnet, smaller than the size of your thumb, and put it over a paper clip. The clip jumps off the ground and sticks to the magnet.

What happened: the magnet and the Earth are two objects next to each other in space, exerting an attraction on the paper clip–and the magnet won.