Velocity & Mass: Does Speed Increase Gravity?

[neuralnova]

When something is moving very fast, does it exert a greater gravitational field, in accordance with its new increased mass?

 

[Matterwave]

This is a very common question, asked here many times. You can probably do a forum search and see the previous discussions.

The short answer is no, the concept of "relativistic mass" (the idea that mass increases as you go "faster") has very limited applications, gravitation not being one of them. The gravitational field does look different to a moving observer than a stationary one, but it's not so simple as "faster objects exert more gravity".

 

[Orodruin]

See also: https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/what-is-relativistic-mass-and-why-is-it-not-used-much.783220/

 

[CKH]

The short answer is no, the concept of "relativistic mass" (the idea that mass increases as you go "faster") has very limited applications, gravitation not being one of them. The gravitational field does look different to a moving observer than a stationary one, but it's not so simple as "faster objects exert more gravity".

I was under the impression that both mass and energy create gravitational fields. If an object with a given rest mass is moving very fast past an observer will it not create a stronger peak gravitational field than a slow moving object with the same rest mass?

Similarly, consider a confined sphere of gas, does it's gravitational field increase with temperature?

 

[CKH]

P.S. It should be clear that the inertial mass of a confined gas increases with temperature (when the gas molecules move at "relativistic" speeds).

 

[jtbell]

If an object with a given rest mass is moving very fast past an observer will it not create a stronger peak gravitational field than a slow moving object with the same rest mass?

Yes, but it's not as simple as plugging in the "relativistic mass" instead of the "rest mass." See for example

https://www.physicsforums.com/threa...oving-object-versus-stationary-object.687833/