"Mock all you like..."
Thanks. The, "heavy gear" vein of mockery being practically exhausted, allow me to proceed to mock some other nuggets of amusement.
"Is gravity pulling us down or space pushing us down?"
You (edit: not, "you-you" Sassy) have learned that the surface gravity (g) of a body depends on the mass (M) and the radius (r) of the given body. The formula which relates these quantities is:
g = G * M / r2
where G is called the Gravitational constant. Remember that the notation r2 means r to the 2nd power, or r squared.
You will calculate the surface gravity for a number of bodies using the MKS system where the units for distance are meters, the units for mass are kilograms, and the units for time are seconds. In this system, the gravitational constant has the value:
G = 6.67 * 10-11 Newton-meter2/kilogram2.
As an example, the mass M of the Earth is 5.98 * 1024 kilograms. The radius r of the Earth is 6378 kilometers, which is equal to 6.378 * 106 meters. The surface gravity on Earth can therefore be calculated by:
g = G * M / r2
= (6.67 * 10-11) * (5.98 * 1024) / (6.378 * 106)2
= 9.81 meters/second2 - http://nova.stanford.edu/projects/mod-x/ad-surfgrav.html
"Full explanation of Einsteins theory of relativity....
Does the movements of planets and the Sun and Moon affect these things?"
Short answer, yes - but probably not the way you are thinking about.
Does the movements of planets and the Sun and Moon affect your prospects of matrimony on any given day? Quack astronomers want to know!
