almost fallin question

[ben89]

was moongazin on the roof last nite and dang me if i didnt almost fall off an break me neck/ <br /><br />sirs: how come i didnt fall? does this mean teh gravity within meselft is stronger than the earths gravity? how com i was able to stop the earths migthy gravity/

 

[dougum3882]

How did you almost fall off? Did you almost slip off or did you almost step off or some other way? If you slipped, then friction probably stopped you. If you almost stepped off then you probably used your muscles to regain your balance and pull yourself back. The thing with the force of gravity is that it is a rather weak force (at least compared to the other 3 fundamental forces). But compared to the other 3 forces, gravity acts over much larger distances (the sun's gravitational force keeps the Earth in orbit, eventhough they are 93 million miles apart while the strong nuclear force works within the nucleus of an atom).

 

[ben89]

thank u to poster dougum3828 <br /><br />i almost rolled of/ i was dozing off and forgot i was on a goddang roof. does"it matter if i almost rolled off rather than almost fell off or almost step off? does"it matter to gravity?

 

[dougum3882]

I didn't study as much physics as I would have liked in college, so maybe someone else can touch up on my points a little more or correct me if I'm wrong, but I think this is how it works.<br /><br />Basically, gravity is going to pull you toward the center of the Earth. It doesn't matter what you are doing or where you are, gravity is going to try to pull you down. But there are other forces acting on you that keep you from actually being sucked to the center of the Earth. When you are on your roof, there are electromagnetic forces between your feet and the roof (both your roof and your feet or shoes are made up of atoms which are comprised of protons and electrons which have charges associated with them which is where the electromagnetic forces come from). These electromagnetic forces are what allow you to actually be on the roof because these forces are stronger than the force of gravity pulling you down, which is why you can be on your roof without gravity pulling you down to the Earth's core. If you fall of your roof then that means that gravity is the strongest force acting on you. If you almost stepped off then while gravity was pulling you down, your muscles overcame the force of gravity to keep you on the roof. If you almost slid off but stopped without stopping yourself (perhaps by grabbing onto something or stopping yourself another way) then frictional forces overcame gravity to stop you from falling. If you almost rolled off then I would guess that you stopped yourself somehow and it was your muscles which overcame the force of gravity.<br /><br />Hopefully can say what I am trying to say but a little more clear.

 

[ben89]

thank u so much to dougum3882 4 this<br /><br />maybe u can come give a talk at our sceince club/ u explained that so well. <br /><br />printed out ur response so i can always go back 2 it/ i"m thinking i should talk about this during our meeting next week/ i"ll bring my printout of ur respunse