Saturday 11 September 2010

gravity - Why does Earth have more gravitational force than the Moon if I stand on it?

The Earth doesn't cover the hole, the Earth is the hole. Gravity is an attractive force, so were you not standing on the Earth, the Earth's gravity would cause you to accelerate towards it. As you are standing on the Earth, you feel this acceleration as your weight, just as you would feel pressure if you were to push against a wall.



To take a more complex view, we would say that you are being attracted to the local center of gravity, which is located within the Earth. Take your bridges example, it doesn't matter that something obstructs you from reaching the center of gravity. You will feel the attraction of gravity regardless. If you jump while standing on a bridge, you would land just the same as if you jumped while standing on the ground (though please try not to miss the bridge). The graphic is meant to illustrate the strength of the force based on the mass of the attractive object and distance.



If we were to put you on a more massive object, which would have a steeper curvature, you would experience this as increased weight, which is why our lunar explorers bounced around on the moon instead of walking.

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