Science Memes

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submitted 4 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (3 children)

I wonder if we would feel the sudden disappearance of the centripetal force of the sun's gravity.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 4 months ago

After 8 minutes

[–] [email protected] 12 points 4 months ago (1 children)

http://scienceprimer.com/lunar-and-solar-tides

Yes, the tidal effect of the sun would disappear, and that would probably make the oceans all fucky suddenly (after an 8 minutes lag).

[–] Alk 6 points 4 months ago (4 children)

Does gravity travel at the speed of light?

[–] [email protected] 12 points 4 months ago

Of course. It can't travel faster

[–] cantstopthesignal 9 points 4 months ago

Yes. General relativity.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (2 children)

The gravity does not travel, the gravity is.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 months ago

Changes in the gravitational field definitely travel, and do so at the speed of light.

Look up LIGO

[–] Alk 2 points 4 months ago (1 children)

If it didn't travel, it wouldn't take 8 minutes to stop right?

[–] [email protected] -1 points 4 months ago (2 children)

If the mass vanishes, then the gravity would also vanish, at the same time.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 months ago

False. If the mass vanished via magic, the effect would ripple out at the speed of light. Source, gravity waves which move at the speed of light.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago

But vanishing is magic, it goes against the laws of physics, so you could apply any fictional logic

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago

Gravity isn't a force, strictly speaking. Objects move along geodesics in spacetime (that's basically a straight line along a curved surface), and gravity bends spacetime, and therefore also these geodesics, around massive objects. So you don't actually get accelerated by gravity, that's why you don't feel anything during free fall. What we perceive as the force of gravity pushing us down, is the solid ground accelerating us upwards, when following the geodesic would have us fall instead.

So when the sun disappears, the geodesic that used to spiral around the sun suddenly straightens out, and the neutral movement, the new free fall, has the earth continuing in a straight line. You wouldn't be able to feel that. What the other person said about tidal forces is true tho, it would likely cause worldwide tsunamis