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Questions tagged [gravity]

Gravity is an attractive force that affects and is affected by all mass and - in general relativity - energy, pressure, and stress. Prefer newtonian-gravity or general-relativity if sensible.

8 votes
5 answers
2k views

Two orbiting planets in perpendicular planes

Inspired by this question. Can a 3 body problem, starting with two planets orbiting a larger one (so massive it may be taken to stand still) in perpendicular planes, be stable? Is there known an ...
TROLLHUNTER's user avatar
  • 5,220
1 vote
2 answers
8k views

Forces in a Pendulum

Help me visualise the forces found in a pendulum. I know weight can be decomposed into $F_x$ and $F_y$. Centripetal force, acceleration and velocity are three words that I'm confused. Centripetal ...
user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
6k views

Strongest force in nature

Possible Duplicate: What does it mean to say “Gravity is the weakest of the forces”? It is said nuclear force is the strongest force in nature.. But it is not true near a black hole ...
Green Horn's user avatar
24 votes
2 answers
2k views

If energy is only defined up to a constant, can we really claim that ground state energy has an absolute value?

Sorry if this is really naive, but we learned in Newtonian physics that the total energy of a system is only defined up to an additive constant, since you can always add a constant to the potential ...
user avatar
23 votes
2 answers
3k views

How do horseshoe orbits work?

An asteroid was recently discovered that is in a horseshoe orbit with respect to the earth. Is there an intuitive explanation for these orbits? It seems that the earth acts as a repulsive force where ...
Carl Brannen's user avatar
  • 12.8k
8 votes
3 answers
3k views

Maximum time difference between clocks in a gravity field

From Surely you must be joking, Mr Feynman. You blast off in a rocket which has a clock on board, and there's a clock on the ground. The idea is that you have to be back when the clock on the ...
Casebash's user avatar
  • 2,784
2 votes
1 answer
842 views

Dig a hole to the other side of the Earth [duplicate]

Possible Duplicate: If it was possible to dig a hole that went from one side of the earth to the other… This question may not be suitable here and it could be closed in seconds but I wanna ...
tugberk's user avatar
  • 131
4 votes
4 answers
612 views

Has somebody ever tried to measure the gravity oscillations of nearby rotating masses?

I'd like to extend this question: Are Newton's gravity waves detectable by a laser interferometer? but with some changes. Has somebody ever tried to measure the gravity oscillations nearby (&...
Georg's user avatar
  • 6,914
6 votes
4 answers
339 views

Are Newton's gravity waves detectable by a laser interferometer?

Newton's theory of gravity supports "gravity waves" in that moving objects cause changing gravitational fields. For example, two bodies rotating around their center of mass will have a stronger ...
Carl Brannen's user avatar
  • 12.8k
4 votes
1 answer
2k views

Gravity and Planetary Differentiation

During solar system formation, many bodies achieved hydrostatic equilibrium, a spherical shape where their self gravitational force was balanced by internal pressure. Many also achieved ...
Michael Luciuk's user avatar
5 votes
5 answers
2k views

How does the curvature of spacetime induce gravitational attraction?

I don't know how to ask this more clearly than in the title.
Dale's user avatar
  • 6,044
36 votes
8 answers
6k views

Does the curvature of spacetime theory assume gravity?

Whenever I read about the curvature of spacetime as an explanation for gravity, I see pictures of a sheet (spacetime) with various masses indenting the sheet to form "gravity wells." Objects ...
Dale's user avatar
  • 6,044
7 votes
1 answer
311 views

Mass Needed to Clear an Orbital Neighborhood

In 2006 the IAU deemed that Pluto was no longer a planet because it fails to "clear" the neighborhood around its Kuiper Belt orbit. Presumably, this is because Pluto (1.305E22 kg) has insufficient ...
Michael Luciuk's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
503 views

Gravity and the Standard Model

Gravity is ignored in the SM. The proton rest mass is ~0.938 GeV/$c^2$. LHC protons will move with 7 TeV energy, presumably with a relativistic mass about 7,450 times rest mass. A cosmic ray with the ...
Michael Luciuk's user avatar
6 votes
4 answers
1k views

Where's earths death bulge, destroying everything in it's path?

I was watching a BBC documentary on space last night. It was talking about gravity, and it said that the reason we only ever see one side of the moon, is because the earths gravity is strong enough ...
Tom Gullen's user avatar

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