attraction

[In Ger. attraction, tattraktion; Fr. attraction ; Sp. atraccion ; Port. attracção ; Ital. attrazione. All from Lat. attractio , from attraho = to draw together; ad = to, and traho = to draw.] A. Ordinary Language: I. The act or power of attracting. 1. Lit. The act of one material body in drawing another to or towards itself; also the power of doing so. [B.] .. in so far as their orbits can remain unaltered by the attractions of the planets."-Herschel: Astron. (1858), § 564. 2. Fig .: The act or power of drawing a person by moral means to one's self; the power of alluring. in his eye There is a fastening attraction which Fixes my fluttering eyes on his my heart Beats quick; he awes me, and yet draws me near, Nearer, and nearer." Byron: Cain, i. 1. II. The state of being attracted, either in a literal or in a figurative sense. "Since Newton's time the attraction of matter by matter was experimentally established by Cavendish." -At kins on. Gunot's Physics, § 58, III. That which attracts, either in a literal or in a figurative sense; attractive qualities. to female attractions ..."-Macaulay: Hist. Eng . , ch. xxiii. B. Technically : I. Nat . Phil ., or Universal Attraction: A force in virtue of which the material particles of all bodies tend nece arily to approach each other. It operates at whatever distances the bodies may be from each other, whether the space between them be filled with other ma es of matter or is vacant, and whether the bodies themselves are at rest or are in motion. When they are not closely in contact, the attraction between them is called that of gravitation or of gravity. It is of various kinds: (1) The Attraction of Gravitation or of Gravity is the operation of the above-mentioned attraction when the bodies acting and acted upon are not closely in contact. It is often called the Law of Gravity , or Gravitation, but the term Law in this case means simply generalisation. It states the universality of a fact, but does not really account for it. By this law or generalisation, the attraction between any two material particles is directly proportional to the product of their ma es, and inversely proportional to the square of their distance asunder. [GRAVITY.] "Thus the attraction of gravity at the earth's surface is expre ed by the number 32, because, when acting freely on a body for a second of time, it imparts to the body a velocity of thirty-two feet & second."-Tyndall: Frag of Science (3rd ed.), 1. 10. (2) Molecular attraction differs from the former in acting only at infinitely small distances. It ceases to be appreciable when the distances between the molecules become appreciably large. It is divided into COHESION, AFFINITY, and ADHESION (q. V.). "And for the attraction of gravity substitute that of chemical affinity, which is the name given en to the molecular attraction."-Tyndall Frag. of Science (3rd ed.), 1. 10. Capillary Attraction (from Lat. capillus = a hair), meaning the attraction excited by a hair-like tube on a liquid within it, is, properly speaking, a variety of adhesion. [ADHESION, CAPILLARY.] II. Chemistry. Chemical Attraction : The same as Chemical Affinity . [AFFINITY.] [See also I., 2.] III. Magnetism. Magnetic Attraction: The power excited by a magnet or loadstone of drawing and attaching iron to itself. IV. Electricity . Electrical Attraction : The power po e ed by an electrified body of drawing certain other bodies to itself. The repulsions or attractions between two electrified bodies are in the inverse ratio of the squares of their distance. The distance remaining the same, the force of attraction or repulsion between two electrified bodies is directly as the product of the quantities of electricity with which they are charged. ( At kins on : Ganot's Physics.)