FIRST Double Jeopardy! (5/29)

[srawls]

Originally posted by EddieMcD
Actually Stephen, if you are infinately far from Earth, you'll still fell it's gravity (and quit deviding by zero!). Jim, you get your 600 points.

The force of gravity, if you take Newton to be correct, is given by GMm/r^2. As r (distance from center of earth) increases without bound, the force approaches 0. Thus, when the object if infinitely far away, the force is 0 (and the only division by 0 would be if I were in the center of the earth).

But, if you take the theory of Special/General Relativity into account, Newton's equation is no longer sufficient. Einstien viewed gravity as a bend in space time, not an actual force. This bend in space time is on a local level, however, and thus when one is infinitely away from the earth, he does not expirience its gravity. Also, Jnadke is correct too, stating that you can escape gravity by "outrunning" it. I must admit I don't have a complete understanding of the relativity theories, though, so I may be misconstruing some facts.

Stephen