• Question: what creates gravity?

    Asked by ZAK.T! to Heather, Helen, Hugh, Jane, Julian on 14 Nov 2014.
    • Photo: Julian Onions

      Julian Onions answered on 14 Nov 2014:

      Gravity is created by any object that has mass. So both you and I make gravity. Gravity is a very weak force though, so we don’t really notice it unless a very big mass is involved, such as a planet.

      Einstein took the concept further, and said the mass causes a dip in space, into which we roll. Bigger things create bigger dips in space. The sun makes a very big dip, and a black hole probably actually tears space.

    • Photo: Helen Johnson

      Helen Johnson answered on 16 Nov 2014:

      Julian makes a great point, Einstein imagined mass as being a dip in space-time. If you imagine putting a bowling ball on a trampoline, and then throwing a tennis ball towards it. The dip in the fabric will make it be attracted towards the larger ball (like we see as an effect of gravity), but if you give it enough energy it will be able to rotate around the bowling ball – like the way Earth orbits around the Sun.

Comments