What Causes the Curvature of Spacetime for Orbiting Bodies?

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Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around the concept of spacetime curvature caused by massive bodies, specifically focusing on the Sun's influence on Earth's orbit. Participants are exploring the fundamental nature of gravity and the relationship between mass and spacetime distortion.

Discussion Character

  • Conceptual clarification, Assumption checking

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants are attempting to understand the underlying cause of spacetime curvature and its implications for gravitational interactions. Some are seeking analogies to clarify the concept, while others are questioning the adequacy of previous explanations.

Discussion Status

The discussion is ongoing, with various interpretations being explored. Some participants have provided analogies to illustrate the concept, while others are looking for more precise answers regarding the nature of gravity and spacetime curvature.

Contextual Notes

There appears to be a desire for clarity on the definitions and implications of mass in relation to spacetime, as well as the expectations for the level of detail in responses.

roger
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we are doing forces and gravity , but what I don't understand is when the sun curves spacetime for the Earth to orbit this curvature, what causes it ?

thanks in advance.
roger
 
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If you mean what causes the bend in spacetime fabric, it is the matter itself. In this case the Sun distorts the spacetime fabric and the Earth moves under its influence.

As I have put earlier:

"Matter tells fabric how to curve, and distorted fabric tells matter how to move"
 
could someone give me a precise answer ?
 
A simple analogy for what Doc has given you: let's use the surface of your bed for example, with the assumption you have a soft mattress.

Let's use a bowling ball (6.5kg) as the model for the sun and set it in the center of your bed. You will notice that it warps the blanket resulting in a depression around it.

Lets take a marble as model for a Earth and place it near the depression of bowling ball. Depending how close you place it, it will roll and accelerate towards the bowling ball. If the marble were set in motion around the bowling bowl, it will circle around the depression (like an car on a banked curve).

All objects will cause a depression (warp) in the blanket to different degrees relative to its mass.
Though this is a 2-dimensional model, it is analogous of how the sun warps the fabric of space-time, causing any object orbiting near its depression, to experience a force towards it.
 
Last edited:
roger said:
could someone give me a precise answer ?


How "precise" an answer do you want? In the very first response, Dr. Brain said "mass". That's about as "precise" an answer to the question "what causes gravity" as you are going to get!
 

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