Science Mondays! I have to cave, all those that have been saying for years that gravity does not exist - *sigh* - youre right. Now before the told ya so stays flying around, lets investigate So if gravity doesnt exist, how do we stay on this beautiful planet and not fly off into space? Enter Einsteins theory of general relativity. Why is it general? Unlike his theory of special relativity it accounts for the effect of what we call gravity. So how does general relativity explain this phenomenon of gravity? General relativity suggests that space is malleable, it can warp and twist and curve. But what warps space? Imagine you stretch out a sheet of thin rubber and you place a bowling ball on the middle, what happens? Well depending upon the mass of the bowling ball, and mass is determined by the higgs field, the bowling ball will warp the fabric around it. This warping effect is what creates gravity. If you placed a marble within the gravitational field, the warped fabric, it would fall inward towards the bowling ball, stopping only when the two bodies collided. On a side note, if you could strap a little engine on the marble and have it some forward momentum it would enter orbitaround the bowling ball. Orbit is just sideways momentum added to a freefall. This is the same thing you experience while going about your daily life. Earth creates a curvature in spacetime, which you are subject to as you are within this curved space. You are being pushed by warped space towards earth and the ground gets in the way of you being pushed any further. This also allows for the orbit of astronomical bodies, the calculation of needed escape velocity and even how much you weigh, but always relative to the mass of the object you are near. So, gravity does not exist, at least not in the way we imagine. The earth does not pull on you, rather space pushes you. In essence you are in free fall, just the ground gets in the way. ☺ Enjoy the rest of the days folks, youre all a little smarter now!
Posted on: Mon, 08 Sep 2014 18:07:12 +0000
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