Today, I am gonna unearth some of the known day-to-day life examples that you would have seen but never thought of it as an example of gravity in action.
So, what is a gravitational force anyway? Frankly speaking, no one knows what gravity is! But what we know for sure about gravity is how it works. Gravitational force is an attractive force that pulls two objects together.
To be precise, when two bodies attract each other by the virtue of their masses being separated by a distance. A force of gravity is observed. No matter, whether the object in consideration is the smallest or biggest, each one of them exerts a gravitational force on every other object.
In other words, anything that has mass exerts the force of gravity on another object. There are so many mysteries about gravity that we still don’t know! Such as why gravity is only an attractive force. Why not also the repulsive one like all the other fundamental forces of nature?
Examples of Gravity in Everyday Life
- Tides in Ocean
- Water in Glass
- An Apple Falling from Tree
- You Can’t Fly
- Revolution of Moon around Earth
- Rainfall
Tides in Ocean
The high and low tides in the ocean generally occur due to the gravitational pull caused by the sun as well as our natural satellite i.e the moon. The tidal forces (caused by the moon) exert force on the earth, hence its water inside the ocean bulges out to the side that is closest to the moon.
As a result, we get to see high tides in the ocean. Similarly, when the moon is farthest from the side of the earth it faces, there is no gravitational pull due to the moon’s gravity. As a result, we get to see low tides in the ocean.
The same formula you can apply for the sun’s gravitational pull and how it causes the high and low tides in the ocean. Just because there is a gravitational pull due to the sun and the moon’s gravity, we can extract the tidal energy which we later use to generate electricity.
Water in Glass
Ever wondered when you pour water into a glass why it stays always at the bottom? Let me rephrase it for you…!!! Ever wondered when you pour water into a glass why it never hovers or rises to the top of the glass?
Water stays at the bottom of the glass due to the force of gravity. The gravitational pull caused by the earth on the water never let it rise to the brim. Therefore, as a result, the water you pour always stays at the bottom of the glass.
An Apple Falling from Tree
We all have heard the stories that how Newton saw an apple falling from a tree, hence discovering the idea of gravity. He simply asked some basic fundamental questions regarding gravity and concluded that the apple was bound to fall on the ground due to the gravitational force exerted by the earth on the apple.
Not to mention, when I was in school, my physics teacher would famously use to say that we may never have discovered the laws of gravity if that day an apple has not fallen on newton’s head. Well, I have a different opinion regarding this issue.
As per the available Indian scientific scriptures, a 12-century-born, Indian mathematician and Astronomer Bhaskaracharya or Bhaskara II already had formulated the laws of gravity. In the fourth part of his treatise Siddantha Shiromani” i.e in Grahagaṇita (mathematics of planets), he wrote,
“Objects fall on earth due to a force of attraction by the earth. Therefore, the earth, planets, constellations, moon, and sun are held in orbit due to this attraction”
Principia fallacia
You Can’t Fly
Whatever you do, you can never fly. All you can do is walk, run, or even jump, but sadly at last you will have to come back to the earth’s surface. Do I need to tell you why? Well, it happens due to the gravitational force that the earth exerts on you.
No wonder you can fly only and only if you were having wings like birds. But still like birds, at last, you will have to again come back to the surface of the earth and stay in direct contact with the ground.
Editor’s Choice: Aristotelian Universe: the Earth-Centered Universe
Revolution of Moon around Earth
Yup, you heard me right. The revolution of the moon around the earth is a direct consequence of the gravitational force that the earth exerts on the moon. The proper alignment, as well as a smooth revolution of the moon around the earth, would not be possible if there was no gravitational attraction between them.
Not only the revolution of the moon around the earth, but all the planets in our solar system (including earth) also revolve around the sun due to the gravitational attraction between the sun and the other heavenly bodies.
In case you don’t know, even if there is a proper alignment between the earth and the moon due to the forces of gravity, Moon is moving away from the earth. But there is nothing to worry about. Because the moon is drifting away from earth at the rate of approximately 3.78 cm. Meaning, it would take billions of years for total disintegration to happen in actuality.
Editor’s Choice: Kepler’s Law of Planetary Motion – The Heliocentric Model
Rainfall
Thanx to the forces of gravity, the rain ultimately falls on the ground rather than going in the upward direction. Rainfall is a part of the continuous movement of water from within, outside, and, on the surface of the earth. The Sun heats water in the seas and oceans. As a result, water from the ocean and seas evaporates to form the water vapor in the air.
When the air is cooled to its dew point and becomes saturated. Water vapor in the air condenses to form clouds. Later, these clouds precipitate back to earth in the form of rain, snow, or ice pellets, obviously due to gravity.
Editor’s Choice: Tychonic Model: a Geo-Heliocentric Model of the Universe
Some other Examples of Gravitational Force in Everyday Life
Apart from the above-mentioned ones, I am also mentioning of a few here.
- A piece of paper falling on the ground
- Gases in stars
- A child sliding in the park
- A ball is thrown up always comes down
- Stability of objects
- Anything you drop goes down
- A car going down the hill
- Global Positioning System (GPS), etc.
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