What Is The Gravity On Uranus?
QUICK ANSWER
Uranus has gravity at the cloud tops of about 8.87 m/s², roughly 90 percent of Earth's gravity. A 150-pound person on Earth would weigh about 135 pounds at Uranus's cloud-top level. Despite Uranus being much larger than Earth, its lower density keeps the surface gravity surprisingly close to Earth's.
Uranus is one of the planets where you'd weigh less than you do on Earth. Despite being about 14.5 times more massive than Earth and 4 times wider, Uranus has surface gravity slightly weaker than ours. The size and the low density work out to a familiar but slightly lighter pull.
How strong is Uranus's gravity?
About 8.87 m/s² at the cloud tops, compared to Earth's 9.81 m/s². According to NASA, Uranus's surface gravity is about 90 percent of Earth's, the weakest of any of the giant planets. The other ice and gas giants have stronger gravity (Neptune is 1.14 times Earth's, Saturn is 1.07 times, Jupiter is 2.5 times). Uranus is the outlier mostly because of its lower density and the fact that the cloud tops are relatively far from the planet's center.
How much would I weigh on Uranus?
Take your Earth weight and multiply by 0.9. A 150-pound person on Earth would weigh about 135 pounds at Uranus's cloud-top level. A 200-pound person would weigh about 180 pounds. The weight figures only apply at the visible cloud-top level; deeper in the planet, the effective gravity would change as you moved closer to the center. You also couldn't actually stand at the cloud tops since they're not solid, but the gravity calculation assumes that's where you'd be measuring from.
Why is Uranus's gravity weaker than Earth's?
Because of low density and large size. Gravity at a planet's surface depends on both its mass and the distance from the planet's center. Uranus is 14.5 times more massive than Earth, which should mean much stronger gravity. But Uranus is also 4 times wider, which means points on the cloud tops are far from the planet's center. The increased distance combined with Uranus's low density (only about 1.27 g/cm³ compared to Earth's 5.51 g/cm³) results in surface gravity slightly less than Earth's.
How does Uranus compare to other planets gravitationally?
Surprisingly modest. Uranus has the third-weakest gravity among the four giant planets, with only the inner three rocky planets (Mercury, Mars, and Pluto if you count it) having weaker gravity. Neptune is denser than Uranus despite being smaller, so Neptune's surface gravity is about 14 percent stronger than Uranus's. Saturn is just slightly stronger than Uranus despite being much larger, because Saturn is even less dense. Jupiter is in a different league at 2.5 times Earth's gravity.
Uranus has gravity about 90 percent of Earth's at the cloud tops, the weakest of any giant planet in our solar system. The combination of low density and large size results in a surface gravity not dramatically different from what you experience on Earth, just a bit lighter. Uranus is one of the planets where humans would feel almost normal in terms of weight.
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