Thread: What about gravity?

Ok, so I know that anything that has mass has gravity. And gravity is the attraction between objects. But, how does this work? What causes gravity?

If the bigger an object is, and the more gravity force it has, does this mean everything will eventually be pulled into one huge...thing?

I mean, is Earth and the planets going to be sucked into the sun one day, then the sun going to be sucked into the middle of our galaxy or something? Then the galaxy sucked into something and eventually the entire universe even be sucked into something? What do you think?

Why is this in extended discussion? Why don't you just pay more attention in your high school physics class?

didn't take physics. thought this was the proper spot, but it can be moved if its not.

Perhaps the Gravity entry is what you're looking for. Much like a charged particle emits an electric field, a particle with mass emits a gravitational field. In both of those cases, two such particles exert a force on one another, which is inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them (assuming a point source, etc.) What CAUSES these things is quite unknown, though there are many theories you can read about.

Originally Posted by Michael

Ok, so I know that anything that has mass has gravity. And gravity is the attraction between objects. But, how does this work? What causes gravity?

If the bigger an object is, and the more gravity force it has, does this mean everything will eventually be pulled into one huge...thing?

I mean, is Earth and the planets going to be sucked into the sun one day, then the sun going to be sucked into the middle of our galaxy or something? Then the galaxy sucked into something and eventually the entire universe even be sucked into something? What do you think?

The planets going around stars have gravity on them, but that gravity is countered by the motions of the planets, and that is what keeps them in perpetual orbit until the stars get bigger and suck the planets in. The sun will eventually turn into a red giant and suck in Earth and the other planets.

Because of the big bang, the universe is still spreading outward. For a while, astronomers thought that the universe would eventually collapse due to gravity. But now they think the spread out force is enough to get the universe scattered enough to keep enough force to never collapse. That is disappointing because I used to think the big bang would happen again the same way it did last time and the entire course of the universe would happen the same way again, so we would live our lives an ininite number of times and already have lived them an infinite number of times. So it looks like scientists made an error that made us go from believing in an infinite number of lives to seeing the oncoming of eternal death. Dammit.

Originally Posted by Xaqaria

Why is this in extended discussion? Why don't you just pay more attention in your high school physics class?

Why do you troll more than you discuss? Did you join this site just to be insulting? They don't usually teach this stuff in high school physics any way. This is astronomy, which is an elective if anything in high school.

Originally Posted by Universal Mind

The planets going around stars have gravity on them, but that gravity is countered by the motions of the planets, and that is what keeps them in perpetual orbit until the stars get bigger and suck the planets in. The sun will eventually turn into a red giant and suck in Earth and the other planets.

Because of the big bang, the universe is still spreading outward. For a while, astronomers thought that the universe would eventually collapse due to gravity. But now they think the spread out force is enough to get the universe scattered enough to keep enough force to never collapse. That is disappointing because I used to think the big bang would happen again the same way it did last time and the entire course of the universe would happen the same way again, so we would live our lives an ininite number of times and already have lived them an infinite number of times. So it looks like scientists made an error that made us go from believing in an infinite number of lives to seeing the oncoming of eternal death. Dammit.



Why do you troll more than you discuss? Did you join this site just to be insulting? They don't usually teach this stuff in high school physics any way. This is astronomy, which is an elective if anything in high school.

Actually, saying that gravity only pertains to astronomy is as accurate as saying that optics only pertains to light bulbs.

I don't believe my post was trolling. I don't see how a simple appeal for information that could be easily found on one's own belongs in an extended discussion forum. There is nothing to discuss here.

he didnt say it ONLY pertains to astronomy. just like you didnt say it ONLY pertains to physics... god...

Originally Posted by Xaqaria

Actually, saying that gravity only pertains to astronomy is as accurate as saying that optics only pertains to light bulbs.

Great. More mischaracterizations from Xagaria. Michael did not just ask about gravity. He asked about how it affects planetery positions and the physical state of the universe. That is astronomy, and those concepts are generally not covered in high school physics classes.

Originally Posted by Xaqaria

I don't believe my post was trolling. I don't see how a simple appeal for information that could be easily found on one's own belongs in an extended discussion forum. There is nothing to discuss here.

You told him to pay more attention in physics class. You suggested that he did not know the answer to a question he asked because he screws off in a class where they don't even talk about the subject he asked about. That was consescending and pointless. I am bitching mainly because the vast majority of your posts are insulting, even more insulting than discussion oriented. You have a rude style in practically everything you post. Why do you feel the need to act that way?

What a question....

This is the most simple way I know how to explain it. Ultimately there is only one thing that can cause and determine gravity. That is Movement. The degree and nature of movement will determine it's relation to other movements and harmonize with them automatically integrating. Intense vibration causes an electromagnetic field. The more dense this vibration the more solid the nature of the object. In regards to planets. Different mass will have different movement and varying vibrations which hold each other in balance as they are correlated and connected by movement. Planets and solar systems, galaxies etc. They are just an example of the microcosm. As above so below.

Gravity is basically a manifestation and effect of vibration in varying degrees of what is known as life and death. The only way something can vibrate or move is due to the core of it's intelligence and life present.

If you want to go further. Life is the effect created through the existence and non existence of possibility and nothing. Which fluctuate and merge as opposite dualities infinite times in a finite moment. Creating Everything.

Thanks for all your answers. I just wanted some information on it from the people who know more about that kind of thing than me.

Gravity has always tripped me out. And I like seeing Xaqaria get mad.

Originally Posted by Universal Mind

Because of the big bang, the universe is still spreading outward. For a while, astronomers thought that the universe would eventually collapse due to gravity. But now they think the spread out force is enough to get the universe scattered enough to keep enough force to never collapse. That is disappointing because I used to think the big bang would happen again the same way it did last time and the entire course of the universe would happen the same way again, so we would live our lives an ininite number of times and already have lived them an infinite number of times. So it looks like scientists made an error that made us go from believing in an infinite number of lives to seeing the oncoming of eternal death. Dammit.

but there can't ever be complete non-existence. I'm definitely inclined to think it will be more like you said...that another big bang will happen, and it will keep happening like that over and over. and of course this process would obviously take eons...I don't know, I'll just have to keep studying.

ooh look at all these theories: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultimat...f_the_Universe

Originally Posted by paperdoll

ooh look at all these theories: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultimat...f_the_Universe

That was a good read. I skipped down to the actually theories though because I didn't have time to read the whole thing. I've heard of the big rip, big crunch, and multiverses, but some of those other theories were pretty scary.

Originally Posted by Michael

Ok, so I know that anything that has mass has gravity. And gravity is the attraction between objects. But, how does this work? What causes gravity?

If the bigger an object is, and the more gravity force it has, does this mean everything will eventually be pulled into one huge...thing?

I mean, is Earth and the planets going to be sucked into the sun one day, then the sun going to be sucked into the middle of our galaxy or something? Then the galaxy sucked into something and eventually the entire universe even be sucked into something? What do you think?

What causes gravity is still being researched. Scientists are completely baffled about how weak the force of gravity is compared to the other forces (electromagnetic force and weak nuclear force). Most theories revolve around string theory and extra dimensions, which is completely incomprehensible to the average person . There is also a hypothetical particle called the graviton which could cause the force of gravity.

Gravity isn't about size, it's about mass. In fact, if everything was pulled into each other, the result would be an infinitely small, infinitely massive non-dimensional dot (try putting your head around that one ). Just think of black holes, when a supergiant star becomes unstable and goes supernova (goes boom), it's super dense (therefore super massif) core starts to collapse into itself. Since the core is so massive for its relatively small size, gravity's power is multiplied. If it is massif enough, it will literally collapse its way out of existence to form an infinately small dot (called a singularity) that is many times more massive than the Sun.

All planets orbit the sun, that means that they are in a constant state of freefall, so there is no danger of being pulled (rather than sucked, suction is something else...) into anything. However, some galaxies do collide (like ours will in many billion years), the result looks something like this http://gallery.rcopticalsystems.com/gallery/ngc4038.jpg. As for the fate of our universe, look into the Big Crunch/Big Freeze theories...

Lastly, what I find to be the coolest thing about gravity is how it warps time. That "space-time grid" thing that Einstein postulated in his relativity theories is quite interesting.

Originally Posted by Spartiate

Gravity isn't about size, it's about mass. In fact, if everything was pulled into each other, the result would be an infinitely small, infinitely massive non-dimensional dot (try putting your head around that one ). Just think of black holes, when a supergiant star becomes unstable and goes supernova (goes boom), it's super dense (therefore super massif) core starts to collapse into itself. Since the core is so massive for its relatively small size, gravity's power is multiplied. If it is massif enough, it will literally collapse its way out of existence to form an infinately small dot (called a singularity) that is many times more massive than the Sun.

Did anyone else notice how my spelling of the word "massive" changed throughout the paragraph? Weird ...

Oh if I could only remember the name of theory of the universe's creation of which I believe! I chose it to belief in instead of the big bang theory because I just don't think the big bang has enough supporting evidence.

Originally Posted by Spartiate

Did anyone else notice how my spelling of the word "massive" changed throughout the paragraph? Weird ...

I think instead of using the word massive, you should have used the word dense. Just saying.

Originally Posted by CymekSniper

I think instead of using the word massive, you should have used the word dense. Just saying.

Nope, density means how tightly packed together the molecules are, while mass means how many molecules there are. An object can be very dense, but if it contains little matter, then it isn't massive. The force of gravity gets stronger with every particle that adds its mass to a whole, not to how close these particles are .