If gravity is so strong(enough to keep things on the ground) how come we can overcome this and pick things up?

Answer 1

Gravity is the weakest of the four fundamental forces in nature (in order from weakest to strongest: gravity, weak nuclear, electromagnetic, strong nuclear). The forces we generate using chemical reactions are much stronger that what is exerted on our bodies by the Earth. On Jupiter it would be a different story, but that would be a result of Jupiter's mass, Gravity itself would still be weak.

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Addendum after looking at some of the other answers: The force of gravity has nothing to do with the Earth spinning, and the electromagnetic force is the 3rd, not 2nd strongest.

Answer 2

Actually, of the four known forces in the universe, gravity is the weakest force by far. It's just that it has no upper limit. The more mass, the more gravity. If our Earth were the size of Jupiter, you could not pick things up. In fact, you would be squashed flat as a pancake.

The strong nuclear force is the strongest known force, but it only works over a tiny distance (the width of an atom). But within that distance, it reigns supreme.

Answer 3

Think of it like this. In order for there to be enough force (of gravity) to keep us on the ground, you need an object the size of the earth (8,000 miles in diameter!). Even with this large an object we can still momentarily over come the force of gravity by simply jumping up in the air. To give you an example of how weak gravity is and how much stronger the electromagnetic force is: If you were standing on a magnet the size of the earth, the pull its magnetic force would exert on the electrons in your body would collapse you to a pool of liquid human about an eighth of an inch thick on its surface. Now THATS a strong force.

Answer 4

Gravity isn't as strong a force as what you might think. It is simply the effect of mass on space/time, like a bowling ball on a trampoline. You can roll a golfball in the general vicinity but if you roll it fast enough it bypasses the bowling ball and drops over the edge onto the ground. Gravity is not immune to other forces in space/time.

Answer 5

Because those "things" have a relatively smaller mass compared to your mass. It's relatively easy to pick up a marble because it has a small mass, and therefore a smaller weight. The formula for weight is weight = mass / (acceleration of) gravity. Therefore, if the mass decreases, so does the weight. Hence, if you try to pick up a bowling ball, which has a lot of mass, then it will be very heavy because gravity is exerting a stronger force on it, because the formula for weight is just a modified version of Newton's formula for force, which is force = mass / acceleration.

So, simply, the reason we can pick things up is because the force we exert on an object is greater than the force gravity exerts on the object and therefore the net force is in our direction, which allows us to pick it up.

Answer 6

Your body mostly works by electromagnetic forces. The mechanical stability of your body and the strength of your muscles is due to electromagnetic forces. Electromagnetism is a much stronger force than gravity, except that usually it is mostly cancelled out by positive and negative charges being near each other. When you pick something up, you are applying electromagnetic forces to overcome gravity.

Answer 7

The pull of gravity on an object is proportional to its mass. That is why you would have no trouble lifting a feather but would find it difficult to lift your car. Our measurement of weight is actually a representation of how much gravity pulls on the mass of an object. While it may be a weak force, it is enough to keep everything in place!

Answer 8

Because gravity is not that strong. Of all the forces we know about, gravity is the weakest. The next weakest force is the electromagnetic force. This is the force that keeps electrons attached to the nucleus of each atom and is also the force that makes the solid ground solid. If it wasn't for the electromagnetic force the atoms of your body would pass between the atoms of the ground allowing you to sink to the center of the earth as if it was made of air. The strongest forces are the two nuclear forces, that hold the atomic nucleus together.

Answer 9

Well, very interesting question. you see earth has a major gravitational force due to it's spinning on it's axis. gravity is measured by the total amout of kinetic and potential energy. it exerts approxiametley 1.9x10^4 newtons. when you pick up an object you are exerting much more force hence defiing gravity. but sweetie you must also consider total mass as in the weight of the object the heavier you are the harder to pick up. i hope i was able to help and i am selected best answer. thank you and may i say very nice question.

Answer 10

Because gravity in the earth is weak. In smaller planets the gravity is weaker in bigger planets gravity is stronger. That's why the earth dosen't float away in space. The sun's gravity is holding the earth and the other planets.