Our server costs ~$56 per month to run. Please consider donating or becoming a Patron to help keep the site running. Help us gain new members by following us on Twitter and liking our page on Facebook!
Current time: March 29, 2024, 8:51 am

Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Why is there gravity?
#71
RE: Why is there gravity?
(May 10, 2015 at 2:08 pm)Pyrrho Wrote:
(May 10, 2015 at 5:45 am)Alex K Wrote: What is the difference between Gravity and "Effects of Gravity"?

Two words.

Strictly speaking, Gravity is a physical phenomenon, and "Effects of Gravity" is three words, so the difference is three words and a physical phenomenon.
The fool hath said in his heart, There is a God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
Psalm 14, KJV revised edition

Reply
#72
RE: Why is there gravity?
(May 10, 2015 at 2:14 pm)Alex K Wrote:
(May 10, 2015 at 2:08 pm)Pyrrho Wrote: Two words.

Strictly speaking, Gravity is a physical phenomenon, and "Effects of Gravity" is three words, so the difference is three words and a physical phenomenon.

And did you intend to be asking that question, or were you just careless about the quotation marks in your original question?  If the former, it would be a very strange thing for you to be asking.  If the latter, then I answered the question properly.

"A wise man ... proportions his belief to the evidence."
— David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Section X, Part I.
Reply
#73
RE: Why is there gravity?
(May 10, 2015 at 2:19 pm)Pyrrho Wrote:
(May 10, 2015 at 2:14 pm)Alex K Wrote: Strictly speaking, Gravity is a physical phenomenon, and "Effects of Gravity" is three words, so the difference is three words and a physical phenomenon.

And did you intend to be asking that question, or were you just careless about the quotation marks in your original question?  If the former, it would be a very strange thing for you to be asking.  If the latter, then I answered the question properly.

I of course didn't intend it like that, but still felt the need to point out that if you are trying to be anal, you should be anal in a consistent fashion.
The fool hath said in his heart, There is a God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
Psalm 14, KJV revised edition

Reply
#74
RE: Why is there gravity?
Forgive him. He is a anal virgin.
Reply
#75
RE: Why is there gravity?
(May 10, 2015 at 2:24 pm)Alex K Wrote:
(May 10, 2015 at 2:19 pm)Pyrrho Wrote: And did you intend to be asking that question, or were you just careless about the quotation marks in your original question?  If the former, it would be a very strange thing for you to be asking.  If the latter, then I answered the question properly.

I of course didn't intend it like that, but still felt the need to point out that if you are trying to be anal, you should be anal in a consistent fashion.

Except that I was not trying to be "anal."  I was being quite serious about the matter.  It is, as I have heard it said, "a distinction without a difference."  Which, of course, seems very much to have been your original point.

"A wise man ... proportions his belief to the evidence."
— David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Section X, Part I.
Reply
#76
RE: Why is there gravity?
Oh, yes, that was my point!
The fool hath said in his heart, There is a God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
Psalm 14, KJV revised edition

Reply
#77
RE: Why is there gravity?
(March 28, 2015 at 7:27 am)urlawyer Wrote: So gravity is awesome. It keeps my ass in my chair and my beer in the bottle (provided I hold it right side up). But why is it there? What causes it? Just things having mass? I've searched it up and all I got were ambiguous "We don't know"'s or "That's just how the universe works"'s.
Does anyone else know more on this subject? Is there even anyone studying this stuff?

We don't know exactly ... actually is the right answer. We do understand gravity extremely well, we know it can't be shielded against, it has infinite range, it's the weakest of the four fundamental forces, it causes time dilation, acceleration due to gravity (on earth) is ~9.8 m/s^2,  recent experiments suggest that the speed of gravity is equal to the speed of light in a vacuum, etc. Newton approximated gravity (for most purposes) pretty well (gravity is proportional to mass), and Einstein gave the best description of gravity (a consequence of the curvature of spacetime), and Einsteins theory of relativity is one of the best tested scientific theories in history. But we don't know if gravity exists as a particle (quantum field theory postulates the "graviton" as a hypothetical particle which mediates gravitational force), but it's impossible to test this hypothesis at this point in time (practically speaking). There are experiments that are trying to detect gravitational waves, so hopefully we'll learn more in the near future; but for the time being, there's much we don't know about gravity. 

This is a crude explanation (I'm a biologist, a physicist can obviously do a better job of explaining this, but hopefully this helps).
Reply
#78
RE: Why is there gravity?
@francismjenkins

Sounds right. The other field theories are tested to higher precision than GR though.
The fool hath said in his heart, There is a God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
Psalm 14, KJV revised edition

Reply



Possibly Related Threads...
Thread Author Replies Views Last Post
  Earth's Gravity Hole Bucky Ball 2 553 July 29, 2023 at 1:27 am
Last Post: Anomalocaris
  Professor Sean Carroll on Why there is Something... Jehanne 13 1259 August 25, 2018 at 8:49 pm
Last Post: Jehanne
  How Cn Gravity Affect Light When Light Has No Mass? Rhondazvous 18 1832 March 2, 2018 at 10:51 pm
Last Post: polymath257
  What Does Gravity Have To Do WithThe Expanding Universe? Rhondazvous 42 5890 February 26, 2018 at 8:14 am
Last Post: Edwardo Piet
  Defy Gravity! Haipule 43 5263 January 26, 2018 at 6:00 pm
Last Post: Anomalocaris
  If there's nothing in empty space, then how does it get warped by gravity? EruptedCarcassBloat 31 5486 October 13, 2016 at 2:06 pm
Last Post: Arkilogue
  Is there a real chance that there is a multiverse? SerenelyBlue 127 14355 September 15, 2016 at 1:59 pm
Last Post: Alex K
  How exactly does gravity affect time? ErGingerbreadMandude 17 2122 February 21, 2016 at 8:28 am
Last Post: Alex K
  Is Gravity acting upwards or downwards? ErGingerbreadMandude 64 8477 August 7, 2015 at 5:48 pm
Last Post: ErGingerbreadMandude
  A Capella Science - Bohemian Gravity! Cyberman 3 1456 September 18, 2013 at 5:39 pm
Last Post: pocaracas



Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)