Does velocity increase gravitation?

[little bang]

I understand that GR predicts that as an object's speed increases, so does it's mass. I wanted to know if there have been any observations that confirm this, by calculating the gravitational attraction of an object at varying speeds.

 

[Drakkith]

Nope! The mass of an object does NOT increase as speed increases. The idea of "relativistic mass" seems to do nothing but add confusion to how we describe and explain the term mass. At least that is what I've gotten out of several heated discussions about it here on the forums and some reading around.

If you are accelerated in a ship to 99.99999% the speed of light, how does everything look and react on the ship in your frame of reference? The same as it does when you are stationary with respect to where you began! To you it is equally valid to say that you are moving at 99.99999% the speed of light, or that everything else but you is.

 

[Apophilius]

Well when we say "mass is added," this is kind of an oversimplification. Relativistic momentum is increased as per several equations that I won't post here.

Furthermore, it's important to note the distinction between gravitational mass and inertial mass, the inertial mass being the one "affected" by the oversimplification.

 

[Drakkith]

Hence the confusion I was talking about.

 

[sardar]

Thank you for your question. I can provide an answer based on current scientific understanding and research.

According to the theory of general relativity (GR), the more mass an object has, the stronger its gravitational pull. This means that as an object's speed increases, its mass also increases. However, it is important to note that this increase in mass is not due to the object's velocity alone, but rather the increase in its kinetic energy.

In other words, as an object's speed increases, its kinetic energy also increases, which in turn increases its mass. This is known as the mass-energy equivalence, as famously stated by Einstein's famous equation E=mc².

There have been numerous observations that support this concept, including the increase in an object's mass as it approaches the speed of light. This has been confirmed through experiments such as the Large Hadron Collider, where particles are accelerated to very high speeds and their mass is measured.

Additionally, the gravitational attraction of an object at varying speeds has also been observed and confirmed through experiments. For example, the gravitational pull of the Earth on an orbiting satellite is greater than the pull on a stationary object on the surface, due to the satellite's higher speed and thus higher mass.

In summary, according to GR, an object's velocity does play a role in its gravitational pull through the increase in its mass. This has been supported by various observations and experiments, providing evidence for the validity of the theory.