You don’t need a fancy degree in science to know these general facts about gravity which is way more than just a force that makes an apple fall from a tree instead of flying away.
These amazing facts about gravity will change make you regret not paying attention to your physics class.
Sir Isaac Newton wasn’t “hit” by an apple
- The apple didn’t hit the head of Isaac Newton to make him wonder why on earth it knocked his head.
- He actually saw the apple falling off the tree and the rest is history.
Your body needs gravity
- Our body has evolved on the planet earth and is optimized to function on this planet’s gravity.
- Without it, our body may start removing calcium. The muscles of our legs and bones can become weaker.
Place on earth to feel weightlessness
- Well, if you want to feel weightless on earth you just have to dig a tunnel from one side of the earth to the other side.
- You will momentarily feel weightless once you reach the centre. But the inertia will be the party pooper here; it will take you to the other end in about 42 minutes.
Gravity is weak against the dark energy
- If everything attracts each other then why is the universe expanding?
- The answer is the hypothetical dark energy in our universe which acts against gravity.
- The gravity is strong at a shorter distance while the dark energy is thought to be spread evenly.
Gravity is not just some force
- According to Einstein’s theory of relativity, gravity is a phenomenon we see and feel when the fabric of space-time is bent by massive objects to come together.
- Einstein also suggested that gravity travels at the speed of light. Fun fact: we would continue to orbit an empty space for more than eight minutes if the Sun disappears suddenly.
A Giant Space Slingshot
- Sending a spacecraft to some corner of our solar system will take an enormous amount of energy, the gravity of a large body like Jupiter comes to aid for this.
- These spacecraft use the orbital momentum of planets to use it as a boost, which may sound like some sort of gigantic slingshot.
