Gravity - The Coolest Part of Physics
Introduction:
Could you imagine a life with no gravity? Everything would just float away, and the earth wouldn’t have a constant light or heat source because gravity is the force that keeps the planets rotating around the sun. In reality life wouldn’t exist with out gravity. Lucky for us, everything experiences gravity from things as small as us on the earth to things as big as galaxies rotating around black holes. A time when you experience gravity in its full effect is when skydiving. In our everyday lives, everything is affected by the presents of gravity.
Could you imagine a life with no gravity? Everything would just float away, and the earth wouldn’t have a constant light or heat source because gravity is the force that keeps the planets rotating around the sun. In reality life wouldn’t exist with out gravity. Lucky for us, everything experiences gravity from things as small as us on the earth to things as big as galaxies rotating around black holes. A time when you experience gravity in its full effect is when skydiving. In our everyday lives, everything is affected by the presents of gravity.
The Physical Properties of Gravity:
Gravity is one of the only forces that is not visible, you cannot hear gravity either. You can only feel gravity. The force of gravity affects everyone and everything here on earth and in space. Gravity is an invisible force that pulls things to each other, for example the force that pulls us (humans) to the earth. Scientist Isaac Newton defined gravity as a force that makes two objects in the universe pull together. Scientist Albert Einstein said, “Gravity is a result of the curvature of space-time.” Einstein’s theory basically states that all planets are sitting in a netlike material called space-time. (See image below) The larger planets and stars make an indent in the netlike material causing other smaller planets and stars to fall into the dent created by the larger stars. For example, if you drop a marble into a bowl, it will fall towards the bottom. This is similar to smaller planets falling towards the bottom of the hole made by the sun. But since the planets are in motion, they do not fall all the way to the bottom of the bowl, but rather keep rotating around the edge. This is because of Inertia, the law of physics that states, “all things in motion will remain in motion, and all things at rest will remain at rest unless acted upon by an outside force.” This means that the planets are being pulled in two directions, down into the dent created by the star, and straightforward because of Inertia. (See diagram below) Although Einstein’s theory of space-time is the most widely accepted, it has not been proven true or false yet. Scientists know that gravity exists, but they still know very little about it.
Gravity is one of the only forces that is not visible, you cannot hear gravity either. You can only feel gravity. The force of gravity affects everyone and everything here on earth and in space. Gravity is an invisible force that pulls things to each other, for example the force that pulls us (humans) to the earth. Scientist Isaac Newton defined gravity as a force that makes two objects in the universe pull together. Scientist Albert Einstein said, “Gravity is a result of the curvature of space-time.” Einstein’s theory basically states that all planets are sitting in a netlike material called space-time. (See image below) The larger planets and stars make an indent in the netlike material causing other smaller planets and stars to fall into the dent created by the larger stars. For example, if you drop a marble into a bowl, it will fall towards the bottom. This is similar to smaller planets falling towards the bottom of the hole made by the sun. But since the planets are in motion, they do not fall all the way to the bottom of the bowl, but rather keep rotating around the edge. This is because of Inertia, the law of physics that states, “all things in motion will remain in motion, and all things at rest will remain at rest unless acted upon by an outside force.” This means that the planets are being pulled in two directions, down into the dent created by the star, and straightforward because of Inertia. (See diagram below) Although Einstein’s theory of space-time is the most widely accepted, it has not been proven true or false yet. Scientists know that gravity exists, but they still know very little about it.
Real World Connection
My real world connection is skydiving. The dictionary definition of skydiving is: “The sport of jumping from an aircraft and performing acrobatic maneuvers in the air under free fall before landing by parachute. “ When you jump out of an aircraft you experience the full effect of gravity while in free fall. Ignoring other forces, you and anything else on earth will fall at 9.8 m/s^2. In order to land with out getting hurt the parachute was invented. The parachute counteracts the force of gravity by using another force of air resistance. Air resistance is the force that makes kites and sailboats work. Air resistance, also called drag, is the force that opposes the motion of something moving through air. For example, when you use a parachute, the wind pushes up on the parachute and slows down your fall. (See diagram below) Parachutes work well because of their high surface area, so that the wind pushes up on the parachute as the person is falling to slow down their fall. I chose to create a parachute for a stuffed monkey to show how the fall can be slowed down and the monkey will be safe (see calculation and photo below).
My real world connection is skydiving. The dictionary definition of skydiving is: “The sport of jumping from an aircraft and performing acrobatic maneuvers in the air under free fall before landing by parachute. “ When you jump out of an aircraft you experience the full effect of gravity while in free fall. Ignoring other forces, you and anything else on earth will fall at 9.8 m/s^2. In order to land with out getting hurt the parachute was invented. The parachute counteracts the force of gravity by using another force of air resistance. Air resistance is the force that makes kites and sailboats work. Air resistance, also called drag, is the force that opposes the motion of something moving through air. For example, when you use a parachute, the wind pushes up on the parachute and slows down your fall. (See diagram below) Parachutes work well because of their high surface area, so that the wind pushes up on the parachute as the person is falling to slow down their fall. I chose to create a parachute for a stuffed monkey to show how the fall can be slowed down and the monkey will be safe (see calculation and photo below).