Warping Spacetime: Classical Physics & Relativity

[Aikiman007]

Based on classical physics all things attract one another due to their own gravity pull, so theoretically the Earth is drawn closer to a tennis ball even if its impossible to detect. Knowing this and Einsteins theory of relativity of spacetime could I not assume then that every physical body actually warps spacetime no matter how minute and could actually be detected with bending light? Or is spacetime something associated to massive heavenly bodies instead and not small ones like my human form?

 

[Nugatory]

could I not assume then that every physical body actually warps spacetime no matter how minute and could actually be detected with bending light?

You could, and you would be right if you were to add the qualification "could in principle be detected". In practice, the effect is far too small to detect when working with ordinary objects or something like a human body. It would be a good exercise to calculate just how small the Newtonian gravitational attraction between two people standing on opposite sides of a room is - the light-bending predicted by general relativity will be of similar magnitude.

 

[russ_watters]

Based on classical physics all things attract one another due to their own gravity pull, so theoretically the Earth is drawn closer to a tennis ball even if its impossible to detect.

The force is easily detectable with a small scale.

 

[DaveC426913]

As a matter of fact, a common school exercise has the student calculate the gravitational effect between people-sized objects at room-sized distances.