Why does gravity pull me when I'm not moving?

Question

My question is: Why does gravity pull me towards the earth?

I get all the curved spacetime thing but when I'm sat here in my chair I'm traveling through basically the same spacetime as everything else in the room.

Why is everything in the room pulled towards one side (the floor)?

Not clear what you are asking. Why do you think gravity should pull you only when you are moving? Gravity exists whether or not you are moving. — sammy gerbil, Jul 14 '18 at 11:57
I've been told that gravity doesn't "exist", it's a consequence of curvature in space. — Chifti Saidi, Jul 14 '18 at 12:37
Well why do you think that the curvature of space affects objects which move but not objects which are stationary? — sammy gerbil, Jul 14 '18 at 12:47
Ants sitting on the side of a pumpkin don't move towards each other. It's only when they start walking upwards that they get closer together and eventually meet. — Chifti Saidi, Jul 14 '18 at 12:53
Possible duplicate of Why would spacetime curvature cause gravity? — sammy gerbil, Jul 14 '18 at 12:57

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 14 '18 at 12:10

1

You are always moving in spacetime - you are moving forward in time. It is not possible to be 'stationary'. You and the other objects in the room are sliding down the 'depression' in spacetime that is caused by the Earth's mass. A ball would still start rolling down a slope, even if it wasn't moving to start with.

answered Jul 14 '18 at 12:10

Time4Tea

4,054

Makes sense. Even at atomic-level distances there will still be a gradient, I just need to think in 4 dimensions.. – Chifti Saidi Jul 14 '18 at 12:51
You are moving with $379 \pm 30$ km/s in the direction of Leo, so you cannot claim zero speed even if it mattered. – my2cts Jul 14 '18 at 14:31
That's not the point. My chair is also moving at 379±30 km/s in the direction of Leo. – Chifti Saidi Jul 17 '18 at 16:04

Why does gravity pull me when I'm not moving?

1 Answers1