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1) Gravity is what keeps people from falling off the Earth. Gravity is an attractive force between any two masses, and the Earth's immense mass exerts a gravitational pull strong enough to counteract any tendency to fall off its surface. 2) The gravitational force acts between the centers of masses. For people on Earth, gravity pulls us toward the center of the planet no matter where we stand. 3) Gravity also causes the Moon and satellites to orbit the Earth rather than crashing into it. They are constantly falling toward the Earth but their horizontal movement means they miss it and continue orbiting indefinitely.

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Clarissa Howard
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695 views

Read Works

1) Gravity is what keeps people from falling off the Earth. Gravity is an attractive force between any two masses, and the Earth's immense mass exerts a gravitational pull strong enough to counteract any tendency to fall off its surface. 2) The gravitational force acts between the centers of masses. For people on Earth, gravity pulls us toward the center of the planet no matter where we stand. 3) Gravity also causes the Moon and satellites to orbit the Earth rather than crashing into it. They are constantly falling toward the Earth but their horizontal movement means they miss it and continue orbiting indefinitely.

Uploaded by

Clarissa Howard
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Why Dont People on the Other Side Fall Off?

Why Dont People on the Other Side Fall Off?


By Dr. Hany Farid, Dartmouth College

Everyobjectintheuniverseattractseveryotherobjectwithaforce(gravity)thatis
proportionaltothemassesoftheobjectsandinverselyproportionaltothesquareddistance
betweenobjects.Sincetheearthissomassiveitattractsus(nomatterwherewestand)witha
forcestrongenoughtokeepusfromfallingoff.Readonforamoredetailedexplanation.

Fact1.Massisameasureofhowmuchmatterisinanobject.Onearth,massandweightare
effectivelythesamething.1
Fact 2. The earth's mass2 is approximately: 6,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 kg or
13,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000lbs.
Fact3.Gravityisanattractiveforcebetweenanytwoobjectsintheuniverse.Theforce
attractinganytwobodiesisproportionaltotheproductoftheirmassesandisinversely
proportionaltothesquareddistancebetweenthem.Below,thegravitationalattractionis
strongerfortherightmostpairofobjectsbecausetheyaremoremassiveandclosertogether.

Theattractiveforceofgravityactsbetweenthecenteroftwoobjects.Inthecaseofpeople
standingontheearth'ssurface,theeffectofgravityistoattractustowardsthecenterofthe
earth.Asaresult,nomatterwhereyoustandontheearth,youdon'tfalloff.

Anobject'sweightisameasureofhowmuchgravityisactingonit.Anobjectweighslessonthemoon
becausethemoon'smass,andthereforegravitationalattraction,isless.Anobject'smass,however,isthe
samenomatterwhereitis.
2
Atypicalplanewithpeople,cargoandfuelhasamassof70,000kilograms(kg)(154,322pounds(lb)or77.16
tons).Ifwecomparethemassoftheearthtothedistancebetweentheearthandthesun,thenthemassofa
planewouldbeapproximatelythediameterofanatom.
1

2015 ReadWorks, Inc. All rights reserved.

Why Dont People on the Other Side Fall Off?

Gravityisalsothereasonwhythemoon(andsatellites)orbittheearthandwhyweorbitthe
sun.Butthenwhydoesn'tthemooncrashintotheearth?Themoonis,infact,constantly
fallingtowardsearth,itisjustthatitkeepsmissing.Withaninitialmotionalongthepathof
theorbit,themooncancontinuallyfalltowardsearthwithouteverreachingit.Thisis
illustratedontherightintheabovediagram,whereacannonisshownfiringacannonball.If
thespeedofthecannonballistooslowitwillcrashintotheearth.Ifthespeedistoofast,the
cannonballwillescapethegravitationalattractionoftheearth.But,ifthespeedisjustright,
thenthecannonballwillcontinuallyfalltowardstheearth,butneverreachititwillorbitthe
earth.3

Objectswillorbittheearthonlyiftheyareaboveearth'satmosphere,whereparticlesintheearth's
atmospheredonotslowitdown.
3

2015 ReadWorks, Inc. All rights reserved.

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