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Gravity is sometimes described as the weak force. How can something that has an infinite range, i.e. Supposedly have an effect on matter at the other side of our universe, possibly be called weak ?

Harvey
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  • Strength isn't determined by range – BioPhysicist Apr 04 '19 at 23:49
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    Possible duplicate of What does it mean to say "Gravity is the weakest of the forces"? – BioPhysicist Apr 04 '19 at 23:50
  • Surely the range of a force should have a relationship to it’s strength – Harvey Apr 04 '19 at 23:53
  • I had a look at the above question, but it does not answer the question I have asked – Harvey Apr 04 '19 at 23:54
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    The linked possible duplicate has good answers, but FWIW, as a matter of style, it is a description that I prefer to avoid because it leads to confusion with the force mediated by W and Z bosons https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weak_interaction, and because it tends to do more the confound than to clarify the issue because it presumes a comparison in a frame of reference that isn't natural to a lay person (i.e. the phrase is a form of "nerd view." http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=26238#more-26238 that only makes sense to people who already understand what one is trying to communicate). – ohwilleke Apr 04 '19 at 23:54
  • Ohwilleke - what you have written makes no sense, you probably meant it in a derogatory way. My question is an honest one and deserves a more genuine response. – Harvey Apr 05 '19 at 00:19
  • You can have strong long-range forces, weak long-range forces, strong short-range forces, and weak short-range forces. Electromagnetism and gravity are long-range, but gravity is more than a trillion trillion trillion times weaker than EM. – G. Smith Apr 05 '19 at 00:29
  • If gravity were not so weak, we would have to take it into account when doing atomic physics, chemistry, nuclear physics, condensed matter physics, etc. It can be ignored until things are astronomical-sized. – G. Smith Apr 05 '19 at 00:39
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    Harvey, there IS a force called the weak force but it has nothing to do with gravity. Gravity is a weak force, but it is not THE Weak Force. – niels nielsen Apr 05 '19 at 01:44

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