Ask A Scientist , top bar
Office of DOE Science Education Department of Energy Argonne National Laboratory Office of Science
image 1
image 2
Ask A Scientist
image 3
image 4
What causes Gravity?

Welcome Teachers and Students


Visit Our Archives
How to Ask a Question
Ask A Question
Question of the Week
Our Expert Scientists

About Ask A Scientist
Referencing NEWTON BBS Articles
Frequently Asked Questions

What causes Gravity?


[circa 1991]

Question: What causes gravity?  I know about Universal Gravitation, but 
what, other than a formula, really makes two things attract each other?
---------------------------------------
Your question is very profound.  We simply do not know the cause.  
What we know is that the Gravitational constant G that appears in the 
gravitational force equation is fundamental.  We have no theory that gives us 
its value.  Aside from the actual size of the gravitational forces, the fact 
that a mass distorts the space around itself by producing a field at points 
distant from it is one of most profound assumptions of modern science.  The 
electric and magnetic fields are the other familiar fields.  With these we 
have detected the quanta of radiation and have measured their propagation in 
space.  We have not yet detected the graviton for gravity, so we do not yet 
know how it is propagated in detail.  We know in some detail how gravity 
works, but we do not have a clue about what causes it.  For that we would need 
some theory that would predict at least the value of G.

Sam Bowen
=====================================================

image 5
image 6
image 7
image 8
image 9
image 10
image 11

 

Return to NEWTON's HOME PAGE

For assistance with NEWTON contact a System Operator, at Argonne's Division of Educational Programs

NEWTON BBS AND ASK A SCIENTIST Division of Educational Programs

Argonne National Laboratory

Building DEP/223 9700 S. Cass Ave. Argonne, Illinois 60439-4845 USA

Last Update: April 2006