Since every mass attracts every other mass according to Newton's universal law of gravity, why don't I just get pulled towards my computer monitor?
Now you might say, the gravitational constant is so small that the force between you and the computer is amazingly low for any noticeable effects. All that tiny amount of pull will do is create a tiny amount of friction between you and the chair you're sitting on so as to make the net force zero. But here's a thought experiment, suppose I put two blocks near each other on frictionless ice. And suppose there is no other object around so that the majority of the force they will feel horizontally will be due to the other block. Will the two blocks slowly move towards one another?
For example, suppose I take two incredibly dense blocks that have masses of 1000 kg, and I place them 1 m apart.
Then the force that each will feel due to the other block is F= 6.67*10^-11 * 1000* 1000/ (1)^2=
6.67*10^-5 N, which gives an acceleration of 6.67*10^-8 N for either block. Seriously low, but in under 1 hour and a half these two objects should have made it towards one another. See for yourself, delta x= at^2/2, 1= 6.67*10^-8 * t^2/2, t^2= 2/(6.67*10^-8), t= 5476 seconds. Now this number should even be less because acceleration would also be getting bigger since the two objects would be getting closer and closer.
Is this really the case, if there really was 0 friction between the blocks and the ice, like on some sort of frictionless air hockey table, the two blocks would move towards one another? Or what are we overlooking?
Now you might say, the gravitational constant is so small that the force between you and the computer is amazingly low for any noticeable effects. All that tiny amount of pull will do is create a tiny amount of friction between you and the chair you're sitting on so as to make the net force zero. But here's a thought experiment, suppose I put two blocks near each other on frictionless ice. And suppose there is no other object around so that the majority of the force they will feel horizontally will be due to the other block. Will the two blocks slowly move towards one another?
For example, suppose I take two incredibly dense blocks that have masses of 1000 kg, and I place them 1 m apart.
Then the force that each will feel due to the other block is F= 6.67*10^-11 * 1000* 1000/ (1)^2=
6.67*10^-5 N, which gives an acceleration of 6.67*10^-8 N for either block. Seriously low, but in under 1 hour and a half these two objects should have made it towards one another. See for yourself, delta x= at^2/2, 1= 6.67*10^-8 * t^2/2, t^2= 2/(6.67*10^-8), t= 5476 seconds. Now this number should even be less because acceleration would also be getting bigger since the two objects would be getting closer and closer.
Is this really the case, if there really was 0 friction between the blocks and the ice, like on some sort of frictionless air hockey table, the two blocks would move towards one another? Or what are we overlooking?