The Attraction of Bodies

Proposition 86 Theorem 44

If two bodies similar to each other, and consisting of matter equally attractive, attract separately two corpuscles proportional to those bodies, and in a like situation to them, the accelerative attractions of the corpuscles towards the entire bodies will be as the accelerative attractions of the corpuscles towards particles of the bodies proportional to the wholes, and alike situated in them.

For if the bodies are divided into particles proportional to the wholes, and alike situated in them, it will be, as the attraction towards any particle of one of the bodies to the attraction towards the correspondent particle in the other body, so are the attractions towards the several particles of the first body, to the attractions towards the several correspondent particles of the other body; and, by composition, so is the attraction towards the first whole body to the attraction towards the second whole body. Q.E.D.

Corollary 1

Therefore if, as the distances of the corpuscles attracted increase, the attractive forces of the particles decrease in the ratio of any power of the distances, the accelerative attractions towards the whole bodies will be as the bodies directly, and those powers of the distances inversely.

As if the forces of the particles decrease in a duplicate ratio of the distances from the corpuscles attracted, and the bodies are as A³ and B³, and therefore both the cubic sides of the bodies, and the distance of the attracted corpuscles from the bodies, are as A and B; the accelerative attractions towards the bodies will be as … and … that is, as A and B the cubic sides of those bodies.

If the forces of the particles decrease in a triplicate ratio of the distances from the attracted corpuscles, the accelerative attractions towards the whole bodies will be as … and …, that is, equal. If the forces decrease in a quadruplicate ratio, the attractions towards the bodies will be as … that is, reciprocally as the cubic sides A and B. And so in other cases.

Corollary 2

Hence, on the other hand, from the forces with which like bodies attract corpuscles similarly situated, may be collected the ratio of the decrease of the attractive forces of the particles as the attracted corpuscle recedes from them; if so be that decrease is directly or inversely in any ratio of the distances.