Galileo (Gal or gal)
Galileo (Gal or gal) :
The CGS unit of acceleration. One galileo is an acceleration of 1 centimeter per second per second (cm/s2). This unit is used by geologists, who make careful measurements of local variations in the acceleration of gravity in order to draw conclusions about the geologic structures underlying an area. These variations are typically measured in milligals (mGal). One Gal is approximately 0.001 019 7g, where "g" is the acceleration of gravity, so a milligal is a very small acceleration, about 10-6 g. The name of the unit honors the Italian astronomer and natural philosopher Galileo Galilei (1564-1642), who proved that all objects at the Earth's surface experience the same gravitational acceleration. To avoid confusion with the symbol for the gallon, and to conform to the usual metric style, the symbol for this unit should be Gal rather than gal
