Gravity

[baalboy5]

I don't know what it is.... why don't you ask isaac newton? I think he invented it. Or was that galileo?

 

I'm pretty sure Gravity existed before it was discovered :P

 

And I think it was Newton.

 

 

 

I'd so try to contribte to this discussion, but I'd just look like an idiot.

 

Yeah it's Newton.

[assassin_696]

In response to EdgedThesis and mmmcannibalism: Your ideas are interesting, but I suspect slightly speculative. Like I said I really need to read more about the cyclid model before I can form more of an opinion. My gut instinct is that for it to work now with the evidence of accelerated expansion would be a little deux es machina, but I suppose it's still possible.

 

 

 

Oh and gravity's sphere of influence is infinite (as far as we know). It's almost like an asymptotic line, it gets very very close to zero at very large distances, just never quite reaches it.

[warren211]

I see a lot of you will do way better in science then I ever will :cry:

 

 

 

I think what the OP is trying to get at here is where does the force come from? Yes, I know, from mass. But how does being big= having a force around you? I mean, it can't just come from no where. I know mass and energy are interchangeable according to the law of conservation thingy, but how is it that when you're big enough you suddenly can pull smaller masses toward you?

 

 

 

I mean, is gravity a relative force, or a force with a set standard. The sun is many times the size of Earth, and earth is in constant orbit because of it. But yet when a human stands next to an ant, nothing happens. And the human is thousands of tiems the size of the ant. So obviously gravity isn't relative to the size difference between two objects but rather the size of each object individually (I fail at explaining this :thumbdown: ). The sun pulls earth, earth can pull us, but we can't pull ants. At what point are you large enough to start physically pulling things toward you? I know we all exert a constant force regardless of size, but it's not enough to move anything. Is there a definitive specific size at which point you can physically pull things?

 

 

 

Or have I misunderstood something huge and an a failure at science? (It's possible. I am awesome, but I am not flawless.)

[Rebdragon]

I mean, is gravity a relative force, or a force with a set standard. The sun is many times the size of Earth, and earth is in constant orbit because of it. But yet when a human stands next to an ant, nothing happens. And the human is thousands of tiems the size of the ant. So obviously gravity isn't relative to the size difference between two objects but rather the size of each object individually (I fail at explaining this :thumbdown: ). The sun pulls earth, earth can pull us, but we can't pull ants. At what point are you large enough to start physically pulling things toward you? I know we all exert a constant force regardless of size, but it's not enough to move anything. Is there a definitive specific size at which point you can physically pull things?

 

 

 

Or have I misunderstood something huge and an a failure at science? (It's possible. I am awesome, but I am not flawless.)

 

Are you answering your own question there or what?

[meol]

If the universe only consisted of a person and an ant, the ant could orbit around you easily. However, here, the force the Earth exerts the ant is enormously bigger than the force between you and the ant (it's more than one thousand million times so strong if the ant is 1m away from you). That's why the ant is pulled by the Earth and not you.

[assassin_696]

If the universe only consisted of a person and an ant, the ant could orbit around you easily. However, here, the force the Earth exerts the ant is enormously bigger than the force between you and the ant (it's more than one thousand million times so strong if the ant is 1m away from you). That's why the ant is pulled by the Earth and not you.

 

 

 

I don't think the ant would orbit you. Surely according to that logic if you headed out into deep space (where external gravity is negligible) all manner of small objects would start orbiting you? The force between you and the ant isn't suddenly overpowered by the Earth, it's just far too weak for the ant to ever orbit you.

[meol]

If the universe only consisted of a person and an ant, the ant could orbit around you easily. However, here, the force the Earth exerts the ant is enormously bigger than the force between you and the ant (it's more than one thousand million times so strong if the ant is 1m away from you). That's why the ant is pulled by the Earth and not you.

 

 

 

I don't think the ant would orbit you. Surely according to that logic if you headed out into deep space (where external gravity is negligible) all manner of small objects would start orbiting you? The force between you and the ant isn't suddenly overpowered by the Earth, it's just far too weak for the ant to ever orbit you.

 

Why wouldn't they orbit you? As long as there's that gravity there's a force between the object that can work as a centripetal force, so there can be an orbit; the same laws still apply.

[Rebdragon]

Why wouldn't they orbit you? As long as there's that gravity there's a force between the object that can work as a centripetal force, so there can be an orbit; the same laws still apply.

 

Because of both the fact that we aren't spherical in shape and the fact that EM is a much stronger force gets in the way of that.

[evil_mumm_ra]

obligatory family guy youtube posting, although there is no sound which is disappointing.

 

eprSMmEyAko

 

 

 

interesting read, although i don't really have anything else to add except for that comedy.

[atronic92]

You should pay more attention in class. :shame:

[thrash-boy]

Why wouldn't they orbit you? As long as there's that gravity there's a force between the object that can work as a centripetal force, so there can be an orbit; the same laws still apply.

 

 

 

because the force dragging the ant to the earth is so much greater than the force dragging it to you.

 

if you go setup in a bunjee thing or something so you were suspended say 10cm above the ant, the ant would no longer be under 1 g-force, it would be under like 0.999999999999999999 g-force or something.

 

so basically you would be taking the slightest little bit of weight of the ants legs, so it might be able to walk for an extra half a second in its lifetime before its legs wear out.

 

 

 

if however the earth suddenly disappeared for some strange reason (nothing happened, it just disappeared into nowhere), and you and the ant were the only remaining things, then the ant would start orbiting you or be sucked to you.

 

 

 

the reason they cant orbit you is because there is a gravitational force acting on them that is an unimaginable amount more strong than yours, so yours basically does nothing (it does do something, but such a small amount).

 

 

 

Its kind of the same as how the earth would move to you the slightest bit every time you jump in the air.

 

If every human and jumping animal on earth all went to one side of the earth and started jumping, the earth would move, but so little we would never be able to tell it did.

[assassin_696]

Why wouldn't they orbit you? As long as there's that gravity there's a force between the object that can work as a centripetal force, so there can be an orbit; the same laws still apply.

 

 

 

Because the difference in masses is so great. The entire mass of the Earth is pulling down on us right now and we can still easily lift our hands and overcome it. Compared with us vs. the Earth the difference beteween us an an ant isn't that much, only a few orders of magnitude.

 

 

 

For the hell of it, I did the calculations to work out the strength of the gravitational force between me and the Earth, then used that to work out how close the ant would need to be to feel the same force. A very conservative estimate comes out at 2.6 x 10^(-8)m away, which is tiny. Or to put it another way, the force between me and the Earth is (very roughly) 700N, versus 4.7 x 10^(-11)N between me and an ant placed just 10cm away from my centre of mass. Gravity is an exceptionally weak force.