- #1
J. Richter
- 9
- 0
Hi.
Imagine a closed physical system (a universe) with only one star like our Sun, and one planet like our Earth, but so far away from each other, that the gravity from both matters only has a very small effect on each other.
There is a (almost maximum) gravitational potential energy between the star and the planet, even that they are far away from each other.
The star converts mass into energy as time goes by, and the gravitational potential energy between the star and the planet gets smaller because of that.
This loss of potential energy doesn’t seem to be included in the physical processes around the star, because how is the star to know the mass of the planet so far away, and the amount of the potential energy?
My question is:
Where does the loss of gravitational potential energy between the star and the planet goes?
Regards from J. Richter
Imagine a closed physical system (a universe) with only one star like our Sun, and one planet like our Earth, but so far away from each other, that the gravity from both matters only has a very small effect on each other.
There is a (almost maximum) gravitational potential energy between the star and the planet, even that they are far away from each other.
The star converts mass into energy as time goes by, and the gravitational potential energy between the star and the planet gets smaller because of that.
This loss of potential energy doesn’t seem to be included in the physical processes around the star, because how is the star to know the mass of the planet so far away, and the amount of the potential energy?
My question is:
Where does the loss of gravitational potential energy between the star and the planet goes?
Regards from J. Richter