If all objects have gravity, why doesn't my ink pen orbit around my burrito?

Question

We've established that Earth's gravity overrides the burrito's pull on the ink pen, and that the pen would not orbit the burrito unless it enters at the right trajectory and speed.

Lets suspend them both in space, lightyears from all other objects. Then we hold them both one inch from each other, and (relatively) still. Do they stay where they are until I swat them with my hand, or do they slowly connect?

Answer 1

It probably has orbited around uranus.

Answer 2

You imposed the condition of it being lightyears from other objects. Well gravity acts over a much greater distance than that. Galaxies attract each other over much greater distances. Andromeda is being pulled towards the Milky Way and is about 2 million light years away.

Anyway, take them so far away from other objects so as to be able to ignore other gravitational fields (assuming some cosmology that can do this) and they would indeed slowly move together.

Note that another problem is the gravity of the observer. If you were there to see it then your own gravity would affect them.

Gravity is very poorly understood by most people. If you want a related laugh then check this out http://www.milk.com/wall-o-shame/heavy_boots.html

Answer 3

Because we live on the earth and the force of gravity of the earth is much larger than of a burrito. And you have to understand that gravity only attracts objects, it doesn't make an object "orbit" another. What an orbit is, is an object being pulled towards another by gravity, but the larger object moves out of the way, otherwise they'd just crash into each other. If for some reason the earth was to stop in its track, the moon would crash into it because the moon is in freefall towards the earth. But the moon doesn't crash into us because we're also in freefall towards the sun, and the sun is in freefall towards the center of the galaxy, and as we know the galaxy is also moving.

If you put a basketball and a tennis ball in space away from any significant gravitational forces, they'd eventually move towards each other and crash into each other, the tennis ball wouldn't orbit the basketball.

I think I already answered your second question with my basketball/tennis ball analogy, but yeah, they'll move toward each other, you won't have to push either one.

Answer 4

Of course, you know the answer, but...if the pen and burrito were in space, and at a sufficient distance from other more massive bodies the pen could be made to orbit the burrito. The velocities involved would be exceedingly small. I've had bad burritos and bad pens and would like for someone to try it sometime.

Answer 5

Your burrito does have gravity, it's just overpowered by the gravity produced by the gigantic burrito known as the Earth that you are standing on. Gravity is related directly to mass of an object. The mass of your burrito is probably about a pound whereas the mass of the earth is 711211009900799169503125921 pounds. Your ink pen will be waaaaaaaaay more influenced by the Earth's gravity than the minute effect the burrito's exerting on it.

Answer 6

you rburrito does pull slightly on your ink pen and your ink pen pulls on your burrito as well, but the mass of other objects around them such as the earth has a lot more pull.
if your pen and burrito were out in space with no other objects, planets, moons .. etc exsited. they would attracting each other over a long period of time
two find the pull objects have on each other F=(Gm1m2)/r^2
where m1 and m2 are the two masses and G is the gravitational constant

Answer 7

Assuming you were to remove your pen and burrito from all other gravitational influences and render them motionless relative to each other, they would sit in the same place, pretty much for eternity.

You're not going to be able to get that gravity-free condition, though. There's always going to be something pulling at them.

Answer 8

The earth exerts a so much larger gravitational pull that you can't detect the infinitesimally small gravitational pull between the burrito and the ink pen. But it is there, nonetheless.

Answer 9

Earth gravity is million gazllion times stronger than gravity from burrito, so it pulls it down to ground. You can set up experiments to measure gravity of two objects. I saw one with two large metal balls in my physics lecture once.

Answer 10

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Answer 11

All matter is attracted to other matter. Something as small as a pen and burrito will not be instantly attracted. Their masses are too small. Eventually, over a very long time, they will come together.