Chapter 10Science & Nature

What is gravity?

The force that attracts anything with mass to anything else with mass. On Earth, it pulls at 9.8 m/s². Einstein reframed it as curved spacetime — mass bends the fabric of space, and things follow those curves.

Follow-up questions

Why doesn't gravity work on air?

It does — the atmosphere is held by gravity. Individual air molecules just have too much kinetic energy to be pinned to the ground.

Is there gravity in space?

Yes — astronauts on the ISS are in free fall, not weightlessness. They're perpetually falling around Earth.

People also search

  • general relativity
  • why do planets orbit
  • quantum gravity