Why Dont People on the Other Side Fall Off?

Why Dont People on the Other Side Fall Off?

By Dr. Hany Farid, Dartmouth College

Everyobjectintheuniverseattractseveryotherobjectwithaforce(gravity)thatis
proportionaltothemassesoftheobjectsandinverselyproportionaltothesquareddistance
betweenobjects.Sincetheearthissomassiveitattractsus(nomatterwherewestand)witha
forcestrongenoughtokeepusfromfallingoff.Readonforamoredetailedexplanation.

Fact1.Massisameasureofhowmuchmatterisinanobject.Onearth,massandweightare
effectivelythesamething.1
Fact 2. The earth's mass2 is approximately: 6,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 kg or
13,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000lbs.
Fact3.Gravityisanattractiveforcebetweenanytwoobjectsintheuniverse.Theforce
attractinganytwobodiesisproportionaltotheproductoftheirmassesandisinversely
proportionaltothesquareddistancebetweenthem.Below,thegravitationalattractionis
strongerfortherightmostpairofobjectsbecausetheyaremoremassiveandclosertogether.

Theattractiveforceofgravityactsbetweenthecenteroftwoobjects.Inthecaseofpeople
standingontheearth'ssurface,theeffectofgravityistoattractustowardsthecenterofthe
earth.Asaresult,nomatterwhereyoustandontheearth,youdon'tfalloff.

Anobject'sweightisameasureofhowmuchgravityisactingonit.Anobjectweighslessonthemoon
becausethemoon'smass,andthereforegravitationalattraction,isless.Anobject'smass,however,isthe
samenomatterwhereitis.
2
Atypicalplanewithpeople,cargoandfuelhasamassof70,000kilograms(kg)(154,322pounds(lb)or77.16
tons).Ifwecomparethemassoftheearthtothedistancebetweentheearthandthesun,thenthemassofa
planewouldbeapproximatelythediameterofanatom.
1

2015 ReadWorks, Inc. All rights reserved.

Why Dont People on the Other Side Fall Off?

Gravityisalsothereasonwhythemoon(andsatellites)orbittheearthandwhyweorbitthe
sun.Butthenwhydoesn'tthemooncrashintotheearth?Themoonis,infact,constantly
fallingtowardsearth,itisjustthatitkeepsmissing.Withaninitialmotionalongthepathof
theorbit,themooncancontinuallyfalltowardsearthwithouteverreachingit.Thisis
illustratedontherightintheabovediagram,whereacannonisshownfiringacannonball.If
thespeedofthecannonballistooslowitwillcrashintotheearth.Ifthespeedistoofast,the
cannonballwillescapethegravitationalattractionoftheearth.But,ifthespeedisjustright,
thenthecannonballwillcontinuallyfalltowardstheearth,butneverreachititwillorbitthe
earth.3

Objectswillorbittheearthonlyiftheyareaboveearth'satmosphere,whereparticlesintheearth's
atmospheredonotslowitdown.
3

2015 ReadWorks, Inc. All rights reserved.

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