what causes gravity? where does it originate?

Question

The force that holds us on earth, where does it come from? what causes it? james

Answer 1

The various answers you received to this point are good, but reflect various levels of understanding. If you are below grade 12, it is sufficient to know that every mass has a gravitational attraction to every other mass. That is no more or no less mysterious than saying that negatives attract positives or north poles attract south poles. For each of these you could say "why" and the answer could be "they just do."
So, gravity is a force between all masses.
HOWEVER, if you are looking for a theory for gravity not just a law ("they just do" is a law!), you have to look to Einstein's general theory of relativity. That's hard to teach in a yahoo answer, but you can try this:

Einstein proposed that mass curves the space around it. We don't notice the curve of space, but the effect is that objects that are "really" travelling straight lines follow the curve of space (or space-time, actually). Their paths looked curved to us. We explain the (apparently) curved paths by saying that the objects are being attracted by a gravitational force coming from the mass.
It's kind of like centrifugal force: If you are in a box (e.g. a car) going around a curve, you feel a force toward the outside. Looking down from the top, an observer sees no force to the outside. The observer says that your body is just trying to go straight and the outside edge of the box is coming in to make you go in a curve. INSIDE the curving box, centrifugal force is real. Looking from the outside, though, there is no such thing. Centrifugal force is a fictitious force.
Einstein proposed that if space is curved, then when we think we are going at uniform speed in a straight line (through spacetime), we are really accelerating. So we should see a fictitious force. It is mass that curves space so we see that fictitious force near the mass. That force is gravity.

Answer 2

The presence of any mass, like a planet, star, or even you and I, cause gravity. Gravity isn't actually a force but is really a distortion on space caused by mass. Imagine a thin rubber sheet with a bowling ball resting on it. The rubber sheet is space and the bowling ball is the mass. Where the bowling ball rests there will be a depression in the rubber sheet. That depression represents gravity. Just how mass does this isn't at all understood.

Answer 3

As far as the physical forces go, gravity isn't well-explained. We know that matter produces gravity, and we are 99% sure that gravity is transmitted by a tiny particle called a graviton, but WHY it does this we're not altogether sure.

The gravity that holds you onto the Earth is just from the mass of the entire Earth pulling on you.

Answer 4

Gravity comes from the attraction between molecules. The collected force eventually grows large enough to hold objects onto it. If you want to know more, just go to a library. There's probably a much more detailed text on gravity than mine.

Answer 5

most of the other questions did not touch the soul of your most interesting question.

i will explain gravity by way of Albert Einstein, possibly the greatest physicist to have walked this earth.

1. according to the theory of general relativity, gravity is a deformation of space of time into the fourth dimension.

2. this is illustrated by light traveling in curved paths near areas of space that exhibit gravity.

3. matter is thought to create this "warping" of an otherwise uniform space and time.

4. even though we perceive gravity as a "force" ( hence your question "where does it originate?" ) , it is not actually a force but only a "perceived force" as we cannot see into the higher dimension that it operates from.

5. for example, when an object "orbits" a planet, it is actually traveling in a straight path but space is curved in which the object travels ! this is why it appears to travel in a loop ! this is a difficult concept but it is essential you accept this since there is no other explanation !

6. it took the genius of einstein to make this step and this theory still remains one of the most difficult to comprehend even by physicists.

you can read more in the many books published on the theory of relativity.

P.S. the force that holds us to the earth is actually us moving thru warped space in path leading to the earth's center but being blocked by the mass of the earth itself.

very unusual. but then your question is even more unusual ( and fabulous ).

:)

Answer 6

As an previously poster already suggested the tremendous Hadron Collider is seeking to remedy this difficulty on the instantaneous. yet to be more advantageous particular, what the LHC is attempting to do is come across a theoretical (has yet to be considered) particle prevalent because the higgs boson particle, it extremely is the supposedly what provides each thing its mass. i'm basing maximum of this on memory, so i'm sorry if i replaced into off on something.

Answer 7

Mass causes gravity, The more mass something has the more gravity it has.

Answer 8

Gravity has to come from the magnetic force that
exists on the North and South Pole.

Answer 9

Mass causes gravity. No, not mass as in church.
Mass as in matter.

Answer 10

Gravitational attrtaction is a fundamental property of matter.

Doug