The Gravity of the Situation\text{The Gravity of the Situation}

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Newton and Gandalf face off in an epic battle.

Image Source: By Expii Solve

Isaac Newton is regarded as the "discoverer" of gravity. He was a mathematician, astronomer, and physicist. He is one of the most influential people in science.

Gandalf the Grey is a wizard, a member of the Istari order, and leader of the Fellowship of the Ring. He is way cooler than Isaac Newton.

One day, minding his own business in the Mines of Moria, Isaac Newton spots a group of men fleeing a Balrog. At one point one of the men, old and grey, demolishes a bridge which causes him and the Balrog to fall down a chasm. Newton counts 105105 seconds before they reach the bottom of the chasm.

Seeing as he's in Middle Earth and doesn't know the gravity, Newton decides to use this information, along with some trusty calculus, to figure it out. He's really unconcerned about the wizard sacrificing himself to take down a Balrog. Newton's kind of a jerk.

Newton finds an old dwarven scroll which remarks that the chasm is 54022.554022.5 meters deep. (That's a little over 3333 miles!)

Neglecting air resistance, because he's lazy, Newton quickly comes up with a formula for the distance of the free fall the two underwent. d=12gt2d=\frac12gt^2

Using this information, what is the acceleration due to gravity, gg, of Middle Earth?

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