If you drop a stone in space where would it land?

Question

JUST A QUESTION SOME ONE POSED TO ME. I SAY IT WOULD BE DRAWN INTO THE NEAREST PLANETS GRAVITY FORCE

Answer 1

It would depend upon its trajectory and distance from a massive body such as a planet or moon. If it were drawn into Earth's atmosphere it would burn up on entry.

Answer 2

It would be pulled in the direction that had the most gravity. So it would depend on the amount of mass and the distance this mass is from the object you dropped. If you were in space and dropped an object the object would look like it is floating as compared to you since you also would be "falling" in the same direction as the same speed this rock is also falling.

In this scenario since it does not sound like you are close to a planet or star you might start falling so fast that you might miss and go right by the object you were falling toward. You would then enter a highly eccentric orbit around this object. you may also be going so fast that you just change direction and fly right by. If the object was fairly close you would probably "fall" toward it and then miss it, but enter a decaying orbit where you would orbit around the planet or star several times but come closer each time around until you fell on it (you and the rock that is.)

Answer 3

Just to clarify some of the answers: Newton's theory is called the "Law of Universal Gravitation" because the gravity from any object (no matter how big or small) extends throughout the entire universe, so there is always "gravity" in space. However, the strength of the gravitational field from any one object decreases as the square of the distance (if you double your distance from an object, the strength of its gravitational attraction on you decreases by 1/4; triple your distance and it decreases by 1/9).

To answer your question, the stone would respond to the total gravitational field of all objects in the universe at the point in space where you let go of it. In practical terms, it would be attracted to the object exerting the strongest gravitational field at that point, whatever that object might be.

Answer 4

this sounds like one of those trick questions and my real question is how old are you and what class is this for

lower lvl education the answer is probably that there is almost no gravity in space and as such the stone wont even fall

higher lvl education probably is asking that you answer that it will eventually go to the nearest source of gravity unless of course 2 mass at which time the stone would go to the mass that is creating the most gravity and factors that would be invovled are distance from the mass and the size of the mass

Answer 5

It would float in space for a long time, many years possibly and maybe get drawn into a planets gravity force one day, oth could happen, why dont you try it and let us all know

Answer 6

Well you answered your own question.

If there wasn't any other gravity force around the stone would be drawn to you as you are more massive than the stone and therefore have a larger gravitational effect on the stone than empty space which would have none.

Answer 7

If you "dropped" it that would imply you're already in a gravity well so the stone find the quickest route to the centre of that gravity well. If you were outside of a gravity field then it would either keep travelling until it met a large enough gravity field if thrown, or would stay inert until a large enough gravity field exerted it's force on the stone if placed.

Answer 8

If you are in space, you are already in motion, and releasing a stone means that it will continue in the same motion unless you throw it. Whatever path you are following, that is the path the stone will follow.

Everything has mass and therefore gravity, but consider that if you are in orbit, so is the stone. In that case, it would not fall but continue in orbit, even though there is a planet or moon close enough for you to orbit.

Answer 9

You can't really "drop" it. It would "float" independent of you once it was released( it is actually still moving at the same speed that you were traveling at moment of release) As time progresses, it will loose it's inertia owing to the fact that it has no ability to change it's speed or mass on it's own. It would be attracted to the strongest gravitational pull, but this can also be influenced by other celestial forces that it can com in contact with and affect its course and motion. In theory, it may never "land".

Answer 10

Considering there is no gravity in space you can't really "drop" something. You can let it go and it will float there. Something moving in space could hit it and once it is moving it could possibly be drawn into to somethings gravity.