planets

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what will happen to the planets of the solar system if the gravuty will switched off?

― heather fionna, Thursday, 2 February 2006 07:34 (nineteen years ago)

They will fly off in a straight line for a couple of minutes before the exploding sun that caused the gravuty will switched off catches them and burns them with fire and heat and radiation and shit. Maybe not shit, but def. all the rest. Try not to be operating heavy machinery when it happens because you could be distracted a little during the event.

― StanM (StanM), Thursday, 2 February 2006 07:58 (nineteen years ago)

Gravity doesn't just stabilize the orbit of planets around the sun. Without the earth's gravity, we would jump in the air and not fall back to the ground, we would just fly off into space. What's more, our own bodies are also held in one piece by the mutual gravitational force between all our cells. So, if gravity in the solar system is switched off, not only will the planets fly apart but our bodies will also explode. It won't be an enjoyable experience, that's for sure.

― NoTimeBeforeTime (Barry Bruner), Thursday, 2 February 2006 08:04 (nineteen years ago)

Oh yeah, that too. And that heavy machinery wouldn't be heavy anymore, so you can ignore that warning. Apologies.

― StanM (StanM), Thursday, 2 February 2006 08:20 (nineteen years ago)

What's more, our own bodies are also held in one piece by the mutual gravitational force between all our cells

Er?

― The Vintner's Lipogram (OleM), Thursday, 2 February 2006 08:45 (nineteen years ago)

If therewas no more gravity, we would not notice much difference. Mostly things would fall in a weirder way, and the planets would not "hum" as much. They would just sluggishly potter about in random patterns. Gravity makes one want to circle up

― Latham Green (mike), Thursday, 2 February 2006 11:15 (nineteen years ago)

If Gravity gave up ; could gravity just give up, locally?

― The Late Fear And The Potato Fear (kate), Thursday, 2 February 2006 11:19 (nineteen years ago)

our own bodies are also held in one piece by the mutual gravitational force between all our cells.

You mean the strong and weak atomic forces, right? These aren't gravity, although there is certainly a link with gravity (even if traditional theories of everything are yet to adequately explain it).

― Markelby (Mark C), Thursday, 2 February 2006 11:46 (nineteen years ago)

A couple of slight corrections:

Gravity propogates at light speed, so the planets would actually continue in their orbits until the lightspeed delay caught up with each them in turn - in the case of the earth this delay is approximately eight and a half minutes. At that point they would fly off in a straight line; that's assuming the storm of gravity waves that I suspect would be associated with the sudden/instantaneous removal of the Sun didn't rip them to bits.

Also, our bodies (or the atoms and molecules in them at least) are held together by the electromagnetic force; gravity would have to be tens of orders of magnitude stronger to do this. The strong nuclear force holds atomic nuclei together (so you could argue that it does hold our bodies together in one respect) and the weak nuclear for mediates radioactive decay.

― Stone Monkey (Stone Monkey), Thursday, 2 February 2006 12:01 (nineteen years ago)

http://members.shaw.ca/tom.t/unh/u35.gif

― Latham Green (mike), Thursday, 2 February 2006 12:20 (nineteen years ago)

Gravity propogates at light speed,

how the heck has someone measured this?

― Ste (Fuzzy), Thursday, 2 February 2006 13:39 (nineteen years ago)

Drop a marble and turn on a flashlight at the same time. They hit the floor simultaneously.

― Dave will do (dave225.3), Thursday, 2 February 2006 13:43 (nineteen years ago)

Latham, i work with him, i do that face every day.

― not-goodwin (not-goodwin), Thursday, 2 February 2006 13:49 (nineteen years ago)

our own bodies are also held in one piece by the mutual gravitational force between all our cells.
...

You mean the strong and weak atomic forces, right?

No. He means good old electrostatic attraction and repulsion, which is the overwhelmingly dominant force here.

― Mike W (caek), Thursday, 2 February 2006 13:58 (nineteen years ago)

What's more, our own bodies are also held in one piece by the mutual gravitational force between all our cells. So, if gravity in the solar system is switched off, not only will the planets fly apart but our bodies will also explode.

you are a physicist, aren't you? So maybe you know what you are talking about. However, my understanding is that gravity is a relatively weak force, and that it plays little or no roll in stopping me from exploding. It's not as though things stick to me through gravity.

― DV (dirtyvicar), Thursday, 2 February 2006 13:59 (nineteen years ago)

Gravity propogates at light speed,
how the heck has someone measured this?
-- Ste (ste.foste...), February 2nd, 2006. (later)

Actually, it's only assumed that gravity propogates at light speed (General Relativity and all that), but it certainly can't be any quicker than that. The graviton which is assumed to be the force-carrying particle of gravity is supposed (in theory) to be massless, so it would have to travel at lightspeed.

There are a lot of beady eyed physicists designing and operating experiments that look for gravity waves as we speak.

― Stone Monkey (Stone Monkey), Thursday, 2 February 2006 14:00 (nineteen years ago)

It's been measured... http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn3232

― ledge (ledge), Thursday, 2 February 2006 14:05 (nineteen years ago)

Cool. I hadn't seen that.

― Stone Monkey (Stone Monkey), Thursday, 2 February 2006 14:11 (nineteen years ago)

Although after reading the article their argument seems circular to me; to find Jupiter's mass you analyse its motion - Newton's Celestial Mechanics will do for this, but General Relativity will give you the most accurate answer - you then use General Relativity on the value that it's just given you.

I do know General Relativity's been tested out of the wazoo, but I can't help being slightly dismayed.

― Stone Monkey (Stone Monkey), Thursday, 2 February 2006 14:19 (nineteen years ago)

excellent

― inert false cat (sleep), Thursday, 2 February 2006 14:21 (nineteen years ago)

planets 'hum'?

― Ste (Fuzzy), Thursday, 2 February 2006 14:31 (nineteen years ago)

Gravity might be weak but that doesn't mean it's not important. Everything in the universe is attracted to everything else, and without it the universe wouldn't exist, so I reckon it's quite handy.

― beanz (beanz), Thursday, 2 February 2006 14:33 (nineteen years ago)

Gravity: C/D?

― Laurel (Laurel), Thursday, 2 February 2006 14:48 (nineteen years ago)

k-classic

― mookieproof (mookieproof), Thursday, 2 February 2006 15:00 (nineteen years ago)

yeah gravity rules! getting rid of FRICTION is what you need

― ken c (ken c), Thursday, 2 February 2006 15:07 (nineteen years ago)

insert lube joke here

― beanz (beanz), Thursday, 2 February 2006 15:08 (nineteen years ago)

insert

titter

― beanz (beanz), Thursday, 2 February 2006 15:08 (nineteen years ago)

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