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What Is Gravity

alphieb

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Does anyone have any idea what gravity truly is??????????
 
An idea...?
 
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alphieb said:
Does anyone have any idea what gravity truly is??????????

Not really.

You can consider gravity a fundamental force (like electromagnetism and the nuclear forces), but it is different. The other three fundamental forces can attract AND repel. Gravity can attract, but it doesn't have any repulsive force (unless you count dark energy, which most scientists don't). Gravity is also the only fundamental force that hasn't been unified with the others in a single theory.

Also, the universe is curved around objects of great mass. A thought experiment: Imagine a large, flat mattress. Put a bowling ball in the center of the mattress (like a star in the universe), and the shape of the mattress near the bowling ball is warped. Now roll a marble past that part of the mattress, and the marble will be "attracted" to the bowling ball. Of course, it isn't really attracted but only seems that way because the mattress is curved near the bowling ball. In the same sense, planets aren't really attracted to stars, it just seems that way because the fabric of space is curved near the star.

Scientists haven't a clue WHY two things should be attracted to each other, or why space should be warped, just because they have mass. String theory may be able to unify gravity with the other forces, but that remains to be seen.
 
alphieb said:
Does anyone have any idea what gravity truly is??????????

Think of Gravity as you do God......it simply "IS"

I ask you think this way because we (as a world civilization) do not yet understand either one....yet both are felt everyday. Granted one is manifest physically, and equally by all creatures and objects, and the other only by a select few, but the premis of reality for yourself may help in understanding what it is. Most in science consider Gravity to be a fundamental force of the universe, which is in some ways tied to Mass, and thus to energy. As of yet there is no Physics (beyond hypothesis) that meets the criteria required by science to explain what creates the force.....and so....we keep looking.
 
I didn't take physics so I don't know much about this. I have read a little on it and know Eintein's and Newton's theorys do not add up. If you use both of their equations it equals infinity. Perhaps they are both wrong.
 
Simon W. Moon said:
It's just a theory.
It's prob'ly about as "valid" as evolution.

I subscribe to intelligent falling myself.

Simon,

That article is down right funny. That guy actually has a degree in physics. I believe in god, but that is ridiculous.

There is a mathmatical equation that has not been figured out yet.
 
Also what is energy??????? Solid objects contain energy of a different state?????????
 
In time, science will unravel the mystery of gravity (assuming we're around long enough.)
 
I didn't take physics so I don't know much about this. I have read a little on it and know Eintein's and Newton's theorys do not add up. If you use both of their equations it equals infinity. Perhaps they are both wrong.

what equaled infinity? what equations did you use?
 
alphieb said:
I didn't take physics so I don't know much about this. I have read a little on it and know Eintein's and Newton's theorys do not add up. If you use both of their equations it equals infinity. Perhaps they are both wrong.

I don't know of any gravity-related equations that should produce an infinite answer. You're right though that Einstein and Newton's theories of gravity are irreconcilable in many ways. Generally, it's accepted that Einstein's view is more correct than Newton's (although both have flaws).
 
Einstein's theory of relativity and Quantum Mechanics mathematically equals infinity if you plug them together. Who knows if that has something to do with gravity or not, it could. (mathematically).....What other explanations.
 
alphieb said:
Einstein's theory of relativity and Quantum Mechanics mathematically equals infinity if you plug them together. Who knows if that has something to do with gravity or not, it could. (mathematically).....What other explanations.

Oh, I thought you were talking about Einstein and Newton's theories. You're right that Einstein's theory breaks down at the quantum level, because we don't yet understand the nature of gravity. String theory could possibly unify (or replace) both the Einsteinian model and the quantum model, but there's no evidence of that yet.
 
Kandahar said:
Oh, I thought you were talking about Einstein and Newton's theories. You're right that Einstein's theory breaks down at the quantum level, because we don't yet understand the nature of gravity. String theory could possibly unify (or replace) both the Einsteinian model and the quantum model, but there's no evidence of that yet.

Actually I mistakenly said Newton, but meant quantum. I really don't understand the equations at all, but I still find it a fascinating subject. There are so many things about the universe that we don't understand.
 
gravity is what gives you weight and keeps you on the floor.
 
Gravity, put simply, is acceleration.There must be a force that causes a mass to accelerate. For a rocket ship, that is the rocket motor. For the earth, it is the compression of the mass between something on the surface of the earth and the earth's center of mass. The acceleration is in relation to spacetime in that the weight one feels is one's resistance to deviating from one's path in spacetime. The same holds true in the rocket ship except that a rocket motor supplies the force to accelerate an occupant from his spacetime path. There is no difference between the weight he feels because of gravity or the rocket.
What this means comes down to Movement, I will simplify even more for you:

Gravity is the thingy stuff moves.....Against
 
While anybody can say "Gravity is the stuff the keeps you on the ground" or "Gravity is the attractive force directly coorelated with the mass of an object" or something along those lines, nobody truly knows HOW it works yet. 3 of the 4 fundamental forces in the universe (save for gravity) have been explained by observed elementary particles and quantum mechanics.

The electromagnetic force (radio, microwave, infrared, visible light, UV, X-rays and Gamma rays) has been shown to be caused by the interactions of photons which have been directly observed.

The weak nuclear force (the force that holds atoms together in matter) is caused by particles called bosons which have also been directly observed.

The strong nuclear force (the force that binds the subatomic particles in the atomic nucleus together) is caused by particles known as gluons which haven't been directly observed yet but have been proven to exist by indirect observation.

Gravity, the 4th force remains a mystery. "Gravitons" are theoretical particles devised to explain the nature of gravity but no substantial evidence has been compiled to support them.

The closest scientists have approached to an explanation for gravity is in "string theory" but there are a plethora of different string theories and much more work needs to be done to substantiate any of them.


I, on the other hand, am the only human who knows the secret of gravity but I cannot reveal it yet for the time is not right. :2wave:
 
The Real McCoy said:
I, on the other hand, am the only human who knows the secret of gravity but I cannot reveal it yet for the time is not right. :2wave:


:rofl you sir are hilarious!
 
As defined by my physics book, gravity is the attractive forces between to masses. The earth is considerably larger than we are therefore we are attracted to it.

I don't like this theory because I went to my physics teacher with a book and asked her why said book wasn't attracted to my head like so (I then slammed the book against my head :2brickwal ) because they obviously don't have the same mass, I think that there should be at least a little attractive force between the two. According to common logic there isn't any gravity between my head and my book. She stared blankly at me and shrugged.

So uh...:confused: ...

In physic gravity is -9.8 meters/sec so they obviously found some way to measure it...
 
goligoth said:
As defined by my physics book, gravity is the attractive forces between to masses. The earth is considerably larger than we are therefore we are attracted to it.

I don't like this theory because I went to my physics teacher with a book and asked her why said book wasn't attracted to my head like so (I then slammed the book against my head :2brickwal ) because they obviously don't have the same mass, I think that there should be at least a little attractive force between the two. According to common logic there isn't any gravity between my head and my book. She stared blankly at me and shrugged.

So uh...:confused: ...

In physic gravity is -9.8 meters/sec so they obviously found some way to measure it...

There IS a gravitational attractive force between your head and the book. But the masses of both are so small that you can't feel it. You can feel your gravitational attraction to the earth because the earth is enormous compared to you.
 
goligoth said:
As defined by my physics book, gravity is the attractive forces between to masses. The earth is considerably larger than we are therefore we are attracted to it.

I don't like this theory because I went to my physics teacher with a book and asked her why said book wasn't attracted to my head like so (I then slammed the book against my head :2brickwal ) because they obviously don't have the same mass, I think that there should be at least a little attractive force between the two. According to common logic there isn't any gravity between my head and my book. She stared blankly at me and shrugged.

So uh...:confused: ...

In physic gravity is -9.8 meters/sec so they obviously found some way to measure it...

I did not take physics, I don't know a thing about it. However, it obviously has something to do with the mass that the earth is made up of. I guess the earth is kind of like a magnet.
 
Simon W. Moon said:
It's just a theory.
It's prob'ly about as "valid" as evolution.

I subscribe to intelligent falling myself.

"'God' if you will, is pushing them down,"


In this example God is "the man"...

NWA.jpg
 
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