• Question: Can we reduce the gravitational pull?

    Asked by anon-254176 to Tom, AJ, Aaron on 12 May 2020.
    • Photo: Tom Louth

      Tom Louth answered on 12 May 2020:

      You can reduce the gravitational pull on an object by making that object lighter!

      Gravity is a fundamental force that acts on all objects which have mass. We can’t modify it, or adjust how strong it is.

Comments

  • Photo: Graeme

    Graeme commented on :

    Hi Daniel,

    There’s a few ways you can reduce the amount you weigh here on planet Earth. If you climb up on a hill you are ever-so-slightly further away from the centre of the Earth. So the “pull” you feel from Earth’s gravity will be a tiny bit less (though sadly you won’t notice the difference). The other was to do it is to travel to the equator. Since Earth bulges at the equator due to it’s rotation (a bit like how things get thrown to the sides in a washing machine when it spins), this means people living on the equator are also slightly further from the centre of the Earth! So people living on the equator will also feel slightly lighter.

    Prof Jim Al-khalili did this exact experiment and you can see the results in this documentary here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNeR_fHcQSs

  • Photo: Krishna

    Krishna commented on :

    Gravity as a force depends on the mass (the amount of stuff) of the two objects that the force is felt between (example, you and the Earth) and also the distance between the objects. In order to reduce the force, we either have to make the mass of either object smaller orrrrr increase the distance between them.