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Why Does Gravity Get Weaker with Distance?

Posted November 16, 2013 4:32 PM

From ScienceBlogs:

It's the end of the week once again, and so it's time for another Ask Ethan segment! There have been scores of good questions to choose from that were submitted this month alone (and you can submit yours here), but this week's comes from our reader garbulky, who asks:

Why does gravity decrease the further away you are from the object? I've read that it does decrease with distance squared but not why it does this.

This question seems so simple, and yet the answer - to the limits of our understanding - is nothing short of profound.

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#1

Re: Why Does Gravity Get Weaker with Distance?

11/16/2013 4:38 PM

Because it "radiates" spherically. Then just do the math.

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#2

Re: Why Does Gravity Get Weaker with Distance?

11/17/2013 5:47 AM

Observed Law in the Universe. Start from Isaac Newton and follow ...

I was not proven to be otherwise.

Why the speed of light is fixed and is a limit in the Vaccum?

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#3

Re: Why Does Gravity Get Weaker with Distance?

11/17/2013 11:21 AM

Because in the universes where it doesn't, people can't get off the floor to reach their keyboards.

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#4

Re: Why Does Gravity Get Weaker with Distance?

11/17/2013 6:24 PM

Lookup "Inverse Square Law" as alluded to above!

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#5

Re: Why Does Gravity Get Weaker with Distance?

11/17/2013 8:55 PM

The distortion of space-time becomes less as the distance from matter increases...as gravity is a function of the distortion of space-time caused by matter, it too becomes less.....

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#6
In reply to #5

Re: Why Does Gravity Get Weaker with Distance?

11/18/2013 12:01 AM

It's difficult to soar with eagles when you work with turkeys.

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#7

Re: Why Does Gravity Get Weaker with Distance?

11/18/2013 5:42 PM

The gravitational field around the center of the object doesn't change at all, it is just less strong as you move away from the object, by the inverse of the squared distance, but this happens only when there's someone there to witness it .

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#8
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Re: Why Does Gravity Get Weaker with Distance?

11/21/2013 9:06 AM

'...but this happens only when there's someone there to witness it....'

.

The large mismatch between the limited number of 'someone's and the infinite number of 'there's suggests otherwise. There is good evidence the approximation has provided good correlation for places where it is highly unlikely any someone has been to observe.

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