Does gravity apply to ionised objects?

  • Context: Undergrad 
  • Thread starter Thread starter tinypositrons
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Apply Gravity
Join the discussion
Ask a follow-up here, or get your own question answered by working scientists, mathematicians and engineers — people, not an autocomplete.
Real named experts · corrections over time · the nuance an AI answer skips
5 replies · 2K views
tinypositrons
Messages
28
Reaction score
0
Eg. If I ionised myself (ignoring other problems) would I fall through the floor and eventually stop moving at the center of the gravitational body I was on (assuming I didn't make an orbit).
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Gravity certainly does apply to ionized objects, but I have no idea why you think that ionized objects would fall through the floor. They would hit the floor and stop like any other object.
 
tinypositrons said:
Eg. If I ionised myself (ignoring other problems) would I fall through the floor and eventually stop moving at the center of the gravitational body I was on (assuming I didn't make an orbit).

Gravity applies to all the objects which possesses mass and force of gravity is given by the formula:

##F=\frac{Gm_1m_2}{r^2}##
 
tinypositrons said:
Eg. If I ionised myself (ignoring other problems) would I fall through the floor and eventually stop moving at the center of the gravitational body I was on (assuming I didn't make an orbit).

It is unlikely that you could actually "ionise" yourself. You could possibly add to or remove a very few of the 10^24, or so electrons but that would not make you into an Ion. An Ion is a specific thing - an atom with an unbalanced charge.
 
Most of us are rather uncharged, so we are not subject to the electromagnet [EM] force between ourselves and other charged objects. If you were to take on a charge, then you would be subject to the EM force. This would be in addition to the gravity which always acts between you and other bodies.