Gravity tend to decrease as an object's acceleration

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the relationship between gravity and the acceleration of an object moving across a surface. Participants explore whether increasing an object's acceleration affects the force of gravity acting on it, considering various scenarios and assumptions.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Technical explanation

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants question whether the force of gravity decreases as an object's acceleration increases on a plane.
  • One participant clarifies that gravity remains constant unless influenced by other forces, suggesting that acceleration alone does not alter gravitational force.
  • Another participant posits that while gravity is constant, relativistic effects may come into play at high velocities, affecting mass and gravitational interactions.
  • There is mention of the need for additional forces, such as aerodynamic lift, to counteract gravity for an object to rise from a surface.
  • A participant notes that if an object exceeds the velocity required for circular orbit, it may rise, indicating a potential relationship between acceleration and gravitational effects at certain thresholds.
  • One participant summarizes that gravity depends on mass and distance, not acceleration, while also acknowledging the negligible effects of relativistic mass changes at low speeds.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the relationship between acceleration and gravity, with no consensus reached. Some assert that gravity does not change with acceleration, while others introduce conditions under which gravitational effects may vary.

Contextual Notes

The discussion includes assumptions about idealized conditions, such as a flat surface and the absence of external forces, which may not reflect real-world scenarios. The implications of relativistic effects and the role of aerodynamic forces are also noted but not fully resolved.

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Does the force of gravity tend to decrease as an object's acceleration increases on a plane?
 
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I don't understand the question.
 
a box is sitting on the ground, and the ground does not increase nor decrease in elevation, nor does the surface go from rocky to muddy. it's just a regular surface that can be used to push boxes.

if you increase the acceleration of the box moving across the surface, does the force of gravity decrease? or is there a threshold that acceleration must surpass for the force of gravity to decrease and cause flight?
 
Gravity won't be changing simply by accelerating an object. To get the box to take off requires some other force to act on it.
 
Nothing will happen. The force of gravity will be constant until you start getting into relativisitic velocities. I'm assuming a universe with nothing in it but an infinite massive plane and your box. The force of gravity will just be constant. You can push the box as fast as you want up to light speed of course, and its mass will increase along with this speed. This will increase the gravitational force between the box and the plane. There is no upward force. Maybe you're thinking about aerodynamic lift?
 
If you accelerate the box beyond the velocity required for circular orbit at the Earth's surface, than it will rise. And as it rises, gravity will decrease.

But can you push a box that hard?
 
To sum up:
- The force of gravity does not depend on acceleration.
- The force of gravity does depend (only) on the objects' masses and the distance between them.
- The mass of an object depends on its velocity according to relativity (higher velocity => higher mass => more gravity). This effect is negligible at velocities much smaller than the speed of light.
- Given an atmosphere, additional forces such as lift and drag may araise, as a function of velocity, due to aerodynamics. Of these, lift counteracts the gravitational pull.
- If your "plane" is the surface of a planet (e.g. earth), it is not really a plane, but is spherical. In that case you need to take orbital constraints into account.
 

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