Sub-Category:
Relativity Theory
Date Published:
February 27, 2017
Abstract:
We fall toward the Earth, yet the Earth falls toward the Sun. If the pull toward the Sun is stronger, then why do we fall toward the Earth? The answer is that we all feel an acceleration toward the Earth, but in different amounts at different positions, such that the center of the pull on the Earth is offset by a few millimeters per second from the Earth's center. Thus, we can treat the Earth as a point mass in gravitational calculations.
<<< Back