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What Affects Gravity?

It isn't yet known what gravity is or exactly how it works, but many scientists have theorized. Gravity is a force that affects all objects of mass in the universe. The force of gravity that an object possesses and the effect it has on other objects is defined by the physical characteristic of that object such as size, weight and distance. Black holes, previously thought to defy the known laws of gravity, represent the strongest objects of gravitational force in the universe.

Mass
- Mass and gravity are two interrelated and interdependent entities. The more mass an object has, the more gravity pulls toward that object. The gravitons theory suggests mass molecules contain particles called graviton: the more mass, the more gravitons; the more gravitons an object has, the more gravity it has. Though it is not proven, the graviton theory explains why there is less gravity on the moon than on the Earth. The moon has less mass than the Earth, so people weigh less on the moon.
Distance
- Distance affects the strength of pull that gravity has on an object. The center of an object of mass, such as the center of the Earth, is its gravitational center and where gravity pulls to. The farther you get from that center, the less effect that gravity will have on you. Space ships are able to stay outside the Earth's atmosphere because they are far enough away from its center of gravity and aren't as affected as the people or items on the surface.
Relativity
- Albert Einstein proposed the theory of relativity to explain gravity and its effect upon space-time. In his model, Einstein developed a two-dimensional plane that represented space-time, or what he dubbed the "space-time continuum." Imagine the plane like the flat surface of a trampoline. Objects of mass, such as a bowling ball, placed upon the plane create dips in it. These dips explain how objects of mass interact through gravity. Imagine rolling a marble around the blowing ball on the trampoline, it would orbit the bowling ball. The closer the marble is, the more effect the bowling ball has on it.
Black Holes
- Black holes represent unimaginably powerful points of gravitational energy. A black hole is a super-massive star after it has run out of fuel and collapsed upon itself. The force of the collapse is theorized to cause an object that is extremely compact; compact meaning that it has a very large amount of mass concentrated into a small area of space. Black holes contain so much mass that not even light photons can escape their gravitation force.

Astronomy