Quote:
Originally Posted by Bill Verburg
Any competent physicist would understand that gravity is universally attractive. It does one thing and only one thing, it is a force of attraction between two masses. The magnitude of the attraction depends solely on the masses of the bodies and the distance between them, the direction is always attractive along the axis between them.
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That's very first order Newtonian of you! Unfortunately, it's not particularly correct. There are tangential effects (even the link in the 2nd post shows them), they are calculable, and they are well documented in astronomy, the only place where we see really large, measurable tidal effects. I did research on some of the most gravitationally powerful objects out there, and the tidal effects from them are massive, and detectable, even from across the Universe.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ckissick
OK, Mike, I found a website that supports your claims. (Every other website I found doesn't agree very well, if at all.)
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The physics behind it is beyond what most people ever come across. In fact, it's pretty much higher level physics undergrad/entry level grad level stuff. I wouldn't expect any other science field to have been introduced to it, or know it. Read some basic stuff on black holes (maybe Hawkings) and they mention it (without the math), but no one explains it very well. I'm even too rusty on my math to toss out equations right now to justify my statements, but if needed, I can
In fact, looking at your link, I see the same force diagram, which clearly shows the tangential effects. They are manifestations of the small differential tidal effects on the parts of the Earth that are off axis.
Finally, all of this talk about the Moon orbiting the Earth is also wrong, since it actually orbits the Sun
The Moon and the Earth co-orbit the Sun, because the direct gravitational force on the Moon from the Sun is stronger than what is on the Moon from the Earth...