Force fields aren’t just something for science fiction writers. They are actually a very real and very mysterious part of the world in which you live. So, what is a force field? Well, I can’t tell you. To be honest, nobody can. There’s quite a bit that is still unknown about how they work. A force field is a strange area that surrounds an object. That field can push or pull other objects that wander into its area. Force fields can be extremely tiny or larger than our solar system.
A way to picture a force field is to imagine an invisible bubble that surrounds a gizmo. If some other object enters that bubble, that object will be pushed or pulled by an invisible force that is caused by the gizmo. That’s pretty bizarre to think about isn’t it? However, it happens all the time. As you sit there right now, you are engulfed in at least two huge force fields, the Earth’s magnetic field and the Earth’s gravitational field.
Gravity doesn’t care what size something is or whether or not it is moving, Gravity treats all things equally and accelerates them the same. Notice, that I say gravity accelerates all things equally, not gravity pulls on all things equally. Gravity does pull harder on some things than on other things. This is why I weigh more than a dog. I am made of more stuff (I have more atoms) than the average dog, so gravity pulls on me more.
Weight is nothing more than a measure of how much gravity is pulling on you. This is why you can be “weightless” on a scale in space. You are still made of stuff, but there’s a balance of the gravity that is pulling on you and the outward force due to the acceleration since you’re moving in a circle (which you do in order to remain in orbit), so it feels like you have no weight.
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