What is the difference between the earths magnetic effect and gravitational effect?

Answer 1

Gravity is a force which all objects with a mass greater than 0 exert. Gravitational effect denotes the process of a heavier object attracting a lighter object strictly because its mass is bigger and therefor its gravitational force is stronger.

Magnetism, however, is a force characteristic only to objects with a magnetic field. These can be natural magnets, electromagnets or magnetized objects. This force isn't necessarily dependent of mass, as lighter objects may attract heavier objects (even though it's the lighter ones that move twards the heavier ones) and it only affects metals, unlike gravity, which affects all elements.

In the Earth's case, it emits both a magnetic and a gravitational field, yet there are some major differences between them:

1. The gravitational field takes the shape of the Earth's outline, while the magnetic field is the shape of two intersecting circles(i believe)

2. Earth's gravitational pull is a lot stronger than its magnetical one (if there were no gravity, metal objects would float. If there were no magnetic field, compasses would be useless, but pennies would still fall to the ground)

3. Gravity is characterised by attraction, magnetism is characterised by both attraction/repulsion (yes, in theory, you could make a magnet levitate because of the Earth's magnetic field...but would you?)

4. Gravity attracts all objects twards the center of the Earth. Magnetism attracts metal objects twards the north pole(in the northern hemmisphere) and the south pole (in the southern hemmisphere) (hence the name "magnetic north")

5. Gravity requires at least one object to have a HUGE mass (a 2 ton locomotive will never attract a pin hard enough, no matter how close it is). Magnetism can occur with magnets as small as a few hundred grams

Answer 2

There are four fundamental forces in the universe: electro-magnetic (EM), strong and weak atomic, and gravitational. Earth's magnetic field is an example of the cause for the EM force. Earth's gravitational field is an example of the cause for the gravitational force. The strong and weak atomic forces keep atoms from flying apart on their own.

Earth's EM force, the magnetic effect cannot be isolated from the electrical part, results from its molten iron core. As the iron core spins about inside the Earth, it creates the EM field. Currently the force field axis of that spinning core puts one pole of the magnetic field near Earth's physical North Pole. This is why a magnetic compass points almost north, the physical geographic north, as it points directly to magnetic north.

The origin of Earth's gravitational field is a bit uncertain. The conventional response would be to say that the gravitational field is generated by the presence of mass (M). This point of view is best manifest by Newton's well-known gravity equation F = mg = GmM/R^2; where G is a constant, m and M are two masses, and R is the center-to-center distance between the two masses.

But Newton's law begs the question as to how mass does that. Truth be known, no one knows at this point. It could be that space itself bends in the presence of mass (M). In which case, other mass (m) falls down bent space toward the larger mass like a golf ball would roll down a trampolin depressed by a bowling ball. And as the mass (m) falls down this bend in space, it accelerates at the rate of g.

Another theory is that mass emits a messenger quantum called the graviton. The graviton finds another mass body and invites it to join the emitting mass...there is attraction. The problem with this theory, which is more a WAG, is that the graviton has never been observed. And further, the major theory that supports this point of view, string/M theory, is more a WAG than it is a theory. [See source.]

On the other side of the coin, gluons, the messengers for the atomic forces have been observed in colliders. So two of the four forces do have messenger particles; so why not gravity?

Bottom line, EM and gravity are distinctly different in that their sources are distinctly different. Earth's EM, for example, stems from its spinning moten iron core. Its gravity comes, somehow yet to be determined, from its mass.

Answer 3

The simplest answer is that the earth's electromagnetic field is a local phenomenon, while the phenomenon of gravity is considered universal.

The electromagnetic field exists on and around the earth, with a north pole/south pole orientation. That's why your compass points north. The origin of the field is thought by some to be the constant motion of earth's molten inner core - high in iron content. The field is also felt to be responsible for protecting the earth from some forms of radiation.

The gravitational field is not confined to earth, but is said to exist throughout the universe. It is a force detectable between two objects in space, and its magnitude depends upon both the mass of the objects, and the distance between them. No one knows where gravity comes from. (But then, no one knows where light comes from, either!)

Hope that helps.

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Answer 4

The gravitational force attract things or masses toward earth and and magnetic effect are mere effects of magnetism available in earth but it may very from place to place but the gravitational force remains same until we get out of its orbit.

Answer 5

Gravitational force and magnetic force are two different things. Gravitational force is not a type of magnetic force; neither is magnetic force is a type of gravitational force. The gravitational force always causes attraction, whereas the magnetic force can cause either attraction or repulsion.

Gravitation is the force of attraction that acts between all objects because of their mass--that is, the amount of matter they are made of. Every object in the universe attracts every other object with a gravitational force. Gravitation holds together the hot gases in the Sun. It keeps the planets in their orbits around the Sun, and it keeps all the stars in our galaxy in their orbits about its centre. The gravitational attraction that an object has for other objects is called the force of gravity. Although the effects of gravity are easy to see, an explanation for gravitational force has puzzled people for centuries. Newton's theory of gravitation says that the gravitational force between two objects is proportional to the size of their masses. Also, the gravitational force is inversely proportional to the distance between the centres of gravity of the two objects squared. In 1915, the German-born physicist Albert Einstein announced his theory of gravitation, the general theory of relativity. A key idea of general relativity is that gravitation is an effect of the curvature of space and time. Although Einstein's theory involved a complete change in ideas about gravitation, it expanded upon rather than contradicted Newton's theory. In most circumstances, it produced results that differed only slightly from those calculated with Newton's theory.

Magnetic force is a force exerted by a magnetic field on nearby magnets. It may pull magnets together or push them apart. The region around a magnet where the force of magnetism can be felt is said to contain a magnetic field. A magnetic field can be thought of as a set of imaginary lines called field lines, flux lines, or lines of force. We think of these lines going out from one pole of a magnet, looping around, and returning to the magnet at the other pole. The lines lie closest to each other near the poles, where the magnetic field is strongest. Ordinary electric current flowing through a coil of wire may produce magnetic force. Electric forces exist among stationary electric charges; both electric and magnetic forces exist among moving electric charges. The magnetic force between two moving charges may be described as the effect exerted upon either charge by a magnetic field created by the other. Magnetic force is the basic force responsible for the action of electric motors and the attraction of magnets for iron.

The Earth's magnetic field is a very curious natural phenomenon. Magnetic fields have now been found on other celestial bodies, but many, such as the Moon, have no magnetic field. The magnetic field associated with the Earth, or geomagnetism, is approximately a magnetic dipole, with one pole near the geographic north pole and the other near the geographic south pole. An imaginary line joining the magnetic poles would be inclined by approximately 11.3° from the planet's axis of rotation. The field is similar to that of a bar magnet, but this similarity is superficial. The magnetic field of a bar magnet, or any other type of permanent magnet, is created by the coordinated motions of electrons (negatively charged particles) within iron atoms. The Earth's core, however, is hotter than 1043 K, the temperature at which the orientations of electron orbits within iron become randomized. Such randomisation tends to cause the substance to lose its magnetic field. Therefore the Earth's magnetic field is caused not by magnetised iron deposits, but mostly by electric currents (known as telluric currents). The origin of the field is deep within the bodies, in the mysterious interior where we have only indirect knowledge of the materials and physical conditions, and where motion was never suspected. The source of the field appears to be currents and magnetic fields mixed in the turbulent motions of hot conducting fluids, or semi-solids, influenced by the rotation of the body. Scientists believe the Earth's magnetic field is generated in the fluid outer core by a self-exciting dynamo process. In the Earth, the liquid metal that makes up the outer core passes through a magnetic field, which causes an electric current to flow within the liquid metal. The electric current, in turn, creates its own magnetic field -- one that is stronger than the field that created it in the first place. As liquid metal passes through the stronger field, more current flows, which increases the field still further. This self-sustaining loop is known as the geomagnetic dynamo. The magnetic field extends many thousands of kilometres into space. It acts as a protective shield against solar radiation that might be harmful to life.

Answer 6

They are two different forces. One is electromagnetism, and the other is gravity. The operate differently and through different mechanisms.