Tagged Questions

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1answer
53 views

Defining the star as the ellipse focus rather than the barycenter, what does the other focus do? [duplicate]

There are a lot of images and animations on the internet depicting two bodies orbiting around their common barycenter. The barycenter is defined as the (let's say right) focus of the ellipse. If we ...
10
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2answers
276 views

Does relativistic mass have weight?

If an object was sliding on an infinitely long friction-less floor on Earth with relativistic speeds (ignoring air resistance), would it exert more vertical weight force on the floor than when it's at ...
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1answer
81 views

Is the speed of light related to the mass of the universe?

If the mass of the universe were cut in half, would it affect the speed of light? Would it be twice as fast? Would it stay the same? Do we have instruments that are sensitive enough to measure the ...
2
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2answers
49 views

Can the effects of a person's mass upon the local gravitational field be detected and measured remotely?

As the title suggests, Can the effects of a person's mass upon the local gravitational field be detected and measured remotely? I am aware any mass produces and effects gravity but couldn't find ...
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2answers
96 views

What is the mass of a photon moving at the speed of light? [duplicate]

What is the mass of a photon moving at the speed of light? And if it does not have mass, how is it affected by gravity? Also why does Einstein's general relativity support that a gravitational wave ...
1
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3answers
147 views

What truly is mass, and is there a direct way to measure it?

We know a mass of an object of one kilogram as an object that weighs W = mg = 9.8 N and we reference it to that, (when it should as a fundamental parameter describe weight not the opposite). But if we ...
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4answers
125 views

Does everything with mass or energy have a gravitational pull?

As small as it may be, does every 'thing' have a gravitational pull? That is, something with mass or energy. No matter how obsolete or negligible it may be, is it there? If so, how is it calculated? ...
3
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2answers
89 views

Gravitational distortion of an object's diameter, at a distance,

Does the curvature of space-time cause objects to look smaller than they really are? What is the relationship between the optical distortion and the mass of the objects?
1
vote
1answer
99 views

Is light affect by gravity? Why?

I would like to know if light is affected by gravity, also, I would like to know what is the more correct for the definition of gravity: A force that attracts bodies with mass or force that attracts ...
1
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1answer
103 views

Does gravitational force attract bodies with mass or with energy?

On my textbook is written that gravitational force is the force that attracts bodies with mass. But I've seen on a book that It actually attracts bodies with energy. I'm having a class tomorrow and I ...
2
votes
2answers
52 views

Is it part of special relativity that mass possessing energy is more dense?

I was reading http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/hillis/hillis_p2.html and it says that a charged battery weighs more than a dead one or a rotating object weighs more than a stationary one (i.e. mass ...
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1answer
107 views

Photons and Relativity

Consider a Photon from Sun and travels with a velocity $c$. Now think we are that photon. For us, it looks like Sun is moving away from us with a velocity $c$. So, why don't we get attracted back ...
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3answers
458 views

What is the exact gravitational force between two masses including relativistic effects?

I was wondering if there is a closed-form formula for the force between two masses $m_1$ and $m_2$ if relativistic effects are included. My understanding is that the classic formula $G \frac{m_1 ...
2
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1answer
115 views

Planetary Gravity and its effects

This is my first question on the Physics portion of Stack Exchange. I was hoping to get some light on the topic of gravity. I don't have much background knowledge of physics so I might as well start ...
1
vote
4answers
564 views

Does matter with negative mass exist?

Or does it exist mathematically? Is it really inconsistent with a common-sense, mathematics or known physical laws? As far as I understand, if it exists, it must be far away from the "positive" ...
1
vote
1answer
138 views

Is $w=mg$ the right way to calculate mass?

How can you find the mass of an object by using a weight and a gravitational acceleration from another planet then earth? I was given $5.8\text{ N}$ and an acceleration of $4.0\ \mathrm{m/s^2}$. The ...
1
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1answer
184 views

What gives matter Gravitational Mass? [duplicate]

Possible Duplicate: Does the equivalence between inertial and gravitational mass imply anything about the Higgs mechanism? In Higgs mechanism, Higgs field, which likes syrup, slows down ...
1
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2answers
131 views

The physics behind The Great Flood [closed]

The book of Genesis floats (pardon the pun) some interesting numbers when discussing the Great Flood. For example, it rained for 40 days and 40 nights, and at the end of that time, the entire planet ...
0
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3answers
969 views

How is light affected by gravity?

Light is clearly affected by gravity, just think about a black hole, but light supposedly has no mass and gravity only affects objects with mass. On the other hand, if light does have mass then ...
6
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3answers
2k views

Why is Higgs Boson given the name “The God Particle”?

Higgs Boson (messenger particle of Higgs field) accounts for inertial mass, not gravitational mass. So, how could it account for formation of universe as we know it today? I think, gravity accounts ...
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1answer
69 views

Space station gains enough mass to lose orbit?

I.S.S is constantly being improved (add-ons). Will the space station need to be moved to a higher orbit at some point?
3
votes
1answer
93 views

Neutrino Oscillation and their gravitational implications

As I understand neutrinos, there are three different flavors, all with different masses. Although the masses of these neutrinos have not been directly measured, their mass differences have been. ...
2
votes
2answers
605 views

Are neutrinos affected by gravity?

Layman here, but EE and BS physics. I know that light is affected by gravity. But are neutrinos? During the collapse of a star into a neutron star, as the electrons join protons to form neutrons ...
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2answers
601 views

Does a photon exert a gravitational pull?

I know a photon has zero rest mass, but it does have plenty of energy. Since energy and mass are equivalent does this mean that a photon (or more practically, a light beam) exerts a gravitational pull ...
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2answers
2k views

All matter has a mass but does all matter have a gravitational pull?

I know that all planets and stars have a gravitational pull but does a simple much smaller object have a gravitational pull for example a pebble?
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4answers
626 views

Increasing mass' effect on the balance between centripetal force and centrifugal force

Okay, this is nothing more than a thought experiment which popped into my head while driving home from work today. Take the case of a single body orbiting another, larger body, as in a planet and a ...
4
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3answers
181 views

Could we prove that neutrinos have mass by measuring their gravitational signature?

It is now said that neutrinos have mass. If an object has mass then it also emits a gravitational field. I appreciate the neutrinos mass is predicted to be small, but as there are so many produced ...
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1answer
266 views

Calculating the force of a mass bearing down on an object

I need to calculate the force of a weight bearing down on a smaller object, constraining it from expansion. The weight bearing down has a much bigger surface area than the smaller object. I know the ...
1
vote
1answer
433 views

Is the curvature of space around mass independent of gravity?

Is the curvature of space caused by the local density of the energy in that area?Could gravity be a separate phenomenon only arising from the curvature of space? For instance if the density of energy ...
0
votes
2answers
202 views

How far does physics influence russian roulette?

Prompted by this discussion on the math exchange My thought was that the added mass of a bullet in an otherwise empty revolver would bias the chamber spin such that the bullet would remain in one of ...
1
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1answer
378 views

If photons are deflected by a strong gravitational field, then how come photons do not have mass? [duplicate]

Possible Duplicate: Explain how (or if) a box full of photons would weigh more due to massless photons It has been proved and showed through experiments that light can be bent by the Sun or ...
1
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3answers
207 views

Formation of black holes

If stars start with a finite density and light can escape from them, how can they be compacted to form a mass with infinite density which light cannot escape? The black hole will have the same mass as ...
1
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2answers
529 views

Calculating the gravitational acceleration inside of a planet

Plant X has a radius of 5000 km and is composed of two layers. The first inner layer ranges from the centre to 2000 km from centre, it's density is 8 kg / dm^3. The second layer ranges from 2000 ...
2
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2answers
126 views

Inertial Mass of a scalar field

Does it make sense to talk of the inertial mass of a scalar field? By the equivalence principle, it must be equal to its gravitational mass. We know that the scalar field contributes towards the ...
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2answers
189 views

Dropping cubes of same masses but different sizes?

Two cubes of the same mass but different sizes (smaller Cube A and bigger Cube B) are dropped from same height on to a tray of sand.Which cube will create a deeper impression and why?
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3answers
3k views

How do we determine the mass of a black hole?

Since by definition we cannot observe black holes directly, how do astronomers determine the mass of a black hole? What observational techniques are there that would allow us to determine a black ...
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votes
1answer
185 views

future light cones and light paths

I understand that an event, in a four dimensional space-time, produces a light cone. As time increases the cones gets larger on either side of the event (past and future). For example the if the sun ...
0
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0answers
136 views

Spinning X-Rays [closed]

X-Ray jets emit from galaxies as a result of spinning mass. I'm thinking about the ties between electricity and magnetism here, and how Gauss law ties all this stuff together. OK, so is there a way ...