how exactly does gravity work?

Question

i know that a large mass puts a dent in the fabric of space and causes things to move toward it. but if its just a thin layer of the fabric of space, how do you explain the tilt in orbits.and isnt space 3 dimensional? and if the universe is supposed to be a sphere, whats inside? could be a driving mechanism for gravity. or does gravity travel in waves?

Answer 1

Gravity does probably travel in waves (as do all forces in quantum theory). There probably is a quantum carrier of the gravity force just like there is for the EM force, but we haven't found it yet. Gravity is not magnetic. Cirric's analogy is good--you just have to expand that in your mind from 2-D cards to encompass all the dimensions of the universe. The universe is like the surface of the sphere in that it has no edges, but there is no inside of the universe as there is a sphere. Space and time are an interwoven 4-dimensional space. I don't know if I answered all those mini-questions.

Answer 2

Hi. Try this example. Take a deck of cards and hold them between two fingers at the ends. Nothing happens. Apply a force (something like the space curvature caused by gravity) and the bent cards will tend to move towards the center of the bend. Try it.

Answer 3

Newton assumed that space was an empty container of
things which is incorporeal, absolutely penetrable,
never influences anything, and was never affected by
any influence. Modern scientists found that his law of
gravity could not be applied to matter at quantum
mechanics level.

Ancient Greek and Roman philosophers thought that
universal space is filled by absolutely motionless
ether. Moving bodies were thought to encounter an
ethereal wind which resembles the real wind that
resists a running person. For them, space was immutable
and motionless; its attributes did not depend on
anything, even time; nor did they depend on material
bodies or motion. This is what Newton could not
comprehend.

The discovery of the electro-magnetic field, new laws
of quantum mechanics, and the general realization of
many scientists that field could not be reduced to a
state of pure mechanical environment revealed the flaws
in the conventional approach of science. It turned out
that matter could not be represented as a set of
separate, and strictly dissociated elements. The
particles of matter are indeed connected with one
another in integral systems by fields whose action is
transmitted at a finite speed that is limited by a
closed system.

The subject of dialectical materialism was proposed to
overcome the limitations of conventional science. It
acknowledges the unity of motion, space, time and
matter, which is expressed in the principles of various
forms of the structural organization of matter. The
levels of the organization are characterized by
specific motion, space and time represented by a
given body. In theory, dialectical materialism is meant
to provide both a general world view and a specific
method for the investigation of scientific problems.
It deals with the fabric of space with numerous
inter-connections.
http://www.bartleby.com/65/di/dialcti-mat.html

Marx and Engels never wrote a comprehensive work on
dialectical materialism. Its central tenet was borrowed
from Hegelianism. It is called dialectical materialism
because its approach to the phenomena of nature, its
method of studying and apprehending them, is
'dialectical', while its interpretation of the
phenomena of nature, its conception of these phenomena,
its theory, is 'materialistic'.
http://www.answers.com/topic/dialectical-materialism

Since the subject received favour in communist
countries, people of western countries dubbed it as
communist theory. But the subject gives many thoughts to
deep thinkers in science.

Answer 4

Gravity is a magnetic wave. We are all being pulled in by the center of the earth which is being pulled by the sun which is being pulled by the center of the milky way which is a black hole. That black hole is being pulled by a bigger one which is being pulled by a bigger and bigger one. The center of the universe is one big black hole that all mass is being pulled into. The universe is a sphere for sure but some of it is still stretching out like us and other parts are being pulled back in. These black holes are a lack of matter or a dent in existence which all mass must go in to fill.