Learn all the mysteries of the force that holds galaxies. Here are some Facts About Gravity.
Facts About Gravity
1. Your weight shifts when you speed up
The gravitational pull of Earth pushes you to the center of the Earth. However, the ground is blocking the way. It pushes upwards against you, matched by force.
Exactly. This push creates the feeling of being heavy. As you accelerate towards the highest point of a rollercoaster, the chair pushes more forcefully against your body, countering gravity’s force and making it feel heavier. When you have reached the top and the roller coaster accelerates downwards, your body naturally desires to keep moving upwards.
The chair disengages from your body, and you’ll feel more light. As the car coaster continues to fall, its support for the chair is completely removed. You feel in a state of numbness before falling. The indirect shifts in weight are referred to as “g-force.”
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2. In the absence of gravity, your body begins to malfunction.
Our bodies were created from the surfaces of Earth and have been designed to function under the gravity of Earth, but in microgravity, our systems can’t function normally. If there are no loads on our bones that support our weight, the body begins to eliminate calcium. When we stop exercising our muscles to support our legs and backs, the muscles become weaker.
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3. It is impossible to feel weightless in the center of the Earth
If you dig the tunnel from one side of the Earth to the other side and leap into it, you would accelerate towards the center at about 7,900 meters (25,919 feet) per second. At the center, you’d be temporarily weightless, yet inertia would continue to propel you across the tunnel. As you decelerated, you left and emerged at the other end about 42 minutes later.
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4. Fish have stones inside their heads that inform them which way to go.
Animals and plants have developed incredible ways of detecting Earth’s gravitational pull. There are floating calcium carbonate deposits inside the bony ocean fish heads, referred to as ear stones pulled downwards by gravity. Plants on land possess starch grains at their root tips that are sunk into the soil and help direct their roots downwards.
5. You can feel 90% of Earth’s gravity at the International Space Station
The International Space Station orbits Earth at 300 and 400 km (200, 250, and 200 miles). However, although the astronauts and cosmonauts inside are weightless, they’re still in the grip of microgravity. The pull of gravity on the Earth maintains the station’s orbit, but it’s moving at such a speed that it doesn’t fall to the Earth. Astronauts are weightless as they are constantly falling in the air around Earth.
6. The force of gravity can bend light
If a huge amount of matter is located between the Earth and an object of light, then the path of light changes as it passes towards us, resulting in smears, numerous images, and an entire Einstein Ring. This is called gravitational lensing. It is due to the impact that mass exerts on the fabric in the cosmic fabric.
Einstein said that gravity could be caused by huge objects that distort the space-time fabric, similar to bowling balls sitting on the surface of the rubber. When light passes by a massive object and must travel around the curve, its trajectory gets bent.
7. Gravity and quantum mechanics shouldn’t mix
Einstein’s general relativity theory teaches that the universe operates at a vast scale and quantum mechanics explain how molecules, atoms, and the fundamental particle interactions. The problem is that the two theories don’t match. Reconciling these two theories is among the most difficult challenges for contemporary physics.
8. Certain bacteria thrive in microgravity
The colonies of bacteria created onboard a NASA Space Shuttle behaved very differently from the identical bacteria found on Earth. They formed shapes that were not seen on the ground and were able to live at higher levels. Understanding these changes can aid astronauts in avoiding dangerous biofilms of bacterial growth when they travel long distances in space.
9. The gravity of the Moon causes the oceans of Earth to swell
The gravitational pull from the Moon is evident when it pulls on the Earth, pulling upon the water, causing the oceans to expand. When Earth and the Moon rotate together, the water on the other aspect of Earth expands due to centrifugal force. When the Earth revolves around its axis, the bulges expand, creating tides.
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10. Dark energy is a force that works against gravity
Gravitational attraction isn’t strong enough to keep the universe together forever. The universe has been expanding ever since it was created in the Big Bang, and the gravitational pull is challenged by dark energy. Gravity is strong only for short distances. However, dark energy is believed to be evenly distributed, causing the universe’s expansion to accelerate and stopping gravity from pulling the universe back.
11. Extreme gravity could tear entire star systems into pieces
If a huge star dies, there is a large core that collapses under the pressure of gravity, forming an erupting black hole. The black holes are such a massive gravitational pull that even light escapes. They can tear nearby stars into pieces, then destroy their constituent, the atoms.
12. an apple did not strike Newton.
A blow to the head didn’t cause Sir Isaac Newton’s grand idea of gravity. Simply watching an apple fall on the Earth was enough to prompt him to think.
13. Forces are not the only thing that exists.
According to Einstein Einstein, gravity isn’t a force. Space-time’s fabric is bent by huge objects, which distort the path of other objects, an effect we observe in our bodies and sense as gravitation.
14. Gravity is a single direction
Magnets can repel and attract, but gravity works only in one direction. It forces massive objects to join. However, it cannot be reversed to break them up.
15. The gravity range is infinity
Gravity could be the weakest of all the forces, but it is the most powerful and has an unlimitable reach. The strength of gravity decreases when objects are further apart; however, its range is theoretically unlimited.
16. The gravity of Earth is uneven
It is apparent when looking at valleys and mountains that Earth is not a perfect sphere. Below the surface, the distribution of minerals and rocks is uneven, leading to pockets with varying densities, and thus the gravity of these pockets can vary.
NASA has been studying the Earth’s gravity with two satellites from GRACE. As the satellite first approaches an area of denseness, the satellite is pulled ahead, moving ahead for a while, but as it gets closer, it’s pulled backward. In determining the distance between them, detailed Gravity maps are created.
17. Newton and Einstein aren’t alone who have thought about gravity.
Gravity has been the subject of discussion by many of the world’s most brilliant minds. The theory of gravity is rooted in Ancient Greek philosophy. Aristotle declared that all things moved towards their natural place, and some, such as stones, are attracted to the center of the Earth while others, such as steam, would get pulled upwards toward the heavens.
18. Gravity moves at the same speed as light
According to Newton’s theory of gravity, the pull exerted by gravity is instantaneous. However, as per Einstein, gravitational effects move at the same speed as light. This means that if the Sun disappears suddenly and we were to move around a space for over eight minutes. This proved to be true in 2002 when gravity’s speed was first measured for the first time.
19. The weight of your body is almost three times as much on Earth than you do on Mars
Mass is a fixed property that is determined by all the atoms that comprise your body. It is always the same regardless of whether you’re on Earth in the International Space Station or walking on the surface of the Moon. Weight is the result of gravity acting on your body mass. It is defined as the mass multiplied by the acceleration due to gravity. In other words, gravity’s pull differs. Therefore even though your mass is identical, the weight could vary.
20. The force of gravity can be used to create a slingshot for space
It takes a lot of energy to propel spacecraft to the farthest regions within the Solar System, so space agencies employ gravity assistance to assist. Instead of aiming straight at the goal, spacecraft turn around and pass by the planets like Earth, Mars, or Jupiter and use their orbital momentum to boost their speed.
21. The gravitational pull of Earth is less powerful than the force of a fridge magnet
Gravity is the weakest among the forces fundamental to the universe. The whole gravitational force of the Earth is ineffective against the strong nuclear force which holds the nuclei in the atoms. It cannot counter the force of electromagnetic energy that holds a magnet to your refrigerator, and it cannot hinder the weak nuclear force that is the one accountable for the radioactive decay.
22. Astronauts train in airplanes to be weightless.
Airplanes can perform a rapid up-and-down movement known as the parabolic arc, which can trigger the illusion of weightlessness for a short time that allows individuals to learn to fly in space.
23. Researchers study the effects of gravity in cosmic labs
One of the most effective locations to research gravity is the laboratory already built for outer space. Rectifying closely orbiting pairs and trios of a neutron star and white dwarfs lets scientists determine the gravity effects.
24. Spinning creates artificial gravity
A fairground ride that spins the outer walls creates an inward center-seeking force that helps keep people moving in a circular. This is referred to as centripetal force. The impact is felt as if gravity.
25. Massive objects emit gravity waves whenever they travel.
According to Einstein’s theory of relativity, large objects alter the space-time fabric. As they move, these objects cause ripples, just like water boaters skates across the surface of a water pond.
