Exanewton

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An immense unit of force equal to one quintillion newtons, applied in planetary mechanics.

One exanewton is an SI unit of force equal to 10^18 newtons. Physicists use this scale to quantify the immense gravitational and mechanical forces operating between planetary bodies. For perspective, the gravitational pull between the Earth and the Moon is measured in tens of thousands of exanewtons.

Heard on the job

The tidal forces acting on the moon's crust exceed several exanewtons during its closest approach.