Einsteins gravity theory (bending space) question

In summary: So maybe the curvature of spacetime affects the space/time around it in a way that makes it harder for objects to move smoothly through it.
  • #1
superstring10
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Ok I don't know much about physics but have read a tiny bit for fun.

Now einsteins theory that say for example the Earth is bending space and that is why things go toward it.

Two analogies I have heard about this one simple one is if you take a sheet stretch it taught but then put a heavy marble in the middle anything you put on the sheet will than move toward the center marble.

Another example was of how forces do not exist and are something that is a part a higher demention. The example was of flatlanders on a sheet of paper supposedly if you fold and crumple this paper the flatlander would experience these folds and tears as invisible forces.



But what I do not understand is how can the gravity force be bending of space when gravity is required for those bends and curves to be detectable as a force. So if for example we take those flatlanders on the bent sheet into space with no gravity the "force" disappears. Anything can be bent in any possible way but take away gravity and it will have no effect on the direction something on this bent sheet or peace of paper or anything will want to move.




Is it maybe because the distant between two points increases in one direction and decreases in another due to the bending of space which causes you to take more time to get from one place to another is felt simply as a force by us and maybe we feel it as a force and see it as a force because all matter (like light) takes the easiest path to get somewhere. Which would be if the bent space does not change the shortest path.

Or maybe does the bent space change that space turning it into a proverbial glass that is harder to move through. (just like the light wants to spend least time in the hard to move through glass matter does the same avoiding whatever space is hardest to move through which has been effected by other matter bending it/ changing it in some other way. Like the Earth being that giant marble on the sheet that is space. Since there is no gravity pulling it down towards the marble of the sheet it is instead that either the space is curved in a way that makes the distance in a direction toward the center of the Earth less than the distance going away from the center of the Earth or it distorts the space in some other way to make travel toward the Earth easier than away from it and matter then like light follows the fastest path.



Hey maybe does it change space by a large mass of matter displaces space increaseing the density (it is space so there is no density) so I geuss "thickness" of space around it which makes it harder to move through this also would explain why gravity gets weaker the further you move away. Put that marble in pudding the pudding it displaces will mostly be right around the edge of it becoming less and less thick as you move away from it.




Dylan Martinelli
 
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  • #2
So my question is basically what is the force that makes the bending fell like a force with the absence of gravity since gravity is supposedly just bending of space?

I just ended up trying to answer my own question.
 
  • #3
Just a minor clarification - gravity is the bending of spacetime (not just space). If there are no other forces (such as electricity) acting on a particle, then it will just move in a "straight" line in curved spacetime.
 
  • #5
Ok so that rules out matter finding the fastest or least resistance path like light. Makes it more confusing.

So I heard about einsteins experiment with the sun effecting the travel of stars light. So this means the space in that area is definately bent (by gravity) but then time is also bent so if I at where to go to that area of bent spacetime even if I am not moving time will be moving at a different rate or even not in the right direction (but I couldn't notice it but if someone saw me in a telescope.But I still do not understand what it is that holds me to the Earth or the moon near the earth. Spacetime is bent and that is all that gravity is what is the force that makes me go in the direction towards the earth. The flatlanders on a flat but crumpled surface in the abscensce of gravity will not feel a force.

Another example I read was of a ice skating rink and if it became hilly or shaped like a bowl and you would say in the bowl feel forces forcing you toward the center of it. But without gravity why would you feel a force toward the center/bottam anymore than the edge of it. Is the curving of spacetime according to the experiments done with the sun's gravity effect the light of stars away from the sun ( if so this brings me to my next question can matter displace space time?) or is the bending toward it.
 
  • #6
O thanks I was writing and posted before I saw the link. Thanks a lot for helping out guys I'll researh this stuff. IF anyone else has any other links I'd appreciate it. So me being pulled to the Earth has something to do with time curviture. So any other links would be great thanks alot. I am definately a layman as these guys in the link are talking about.


So what I am getting is just that this visualizations are not perfect and you need to possibly be able to visualize a higher demention to see a picture that would perfectly work.
 
  • #7
superstring10 said:
So what I am getting is just that this visualizations are not perfect and you need to possibly be able to visualize a higher demention to see a picture that would perfectly work.
Sure, they all omit some dimensions. But the sheet-marble-analogy omits the time dimension and therefore cannot show how space-time curvature causes gravity.
 
  • #8
superstring10 said:
Ok so that rules out matter finding the fastest or least resistance path like light.

No, that's right. Matter finds the path of least "resistance" or, more precisely, of least "4D-acceleration" - the straightest line in curved spacetime - called a geodesic". When space is not curved, then this straight line in spacetime is what we call moving at constant 3D-velocity.
 
  • #9
O ok. I think I understand now. So space and time, like someone explained to me here, are one. So the space is curved and so is the time so since time is curved by moving toward that curve time is longer so the matter now has to move faster in space and/or time on this curved space time to appear to be the same as it was. And when something is moving faster it requires more energy now matter naturally goes to the lower energy path and that energy difference is the energy or "force" that we feel as gravity. If I am right I see the main thing needed to understand this was to realize space and time are one. Correct me if I was wrong.



Now I have another question because of the bent space time if we were moving say with just enough force to move upward from Earth at 1 mile per and hour would time slow down (still the level of time change would be to small to measure I am sure) by a lot more than that slow speed should have it change by. And if you were escaping a far more powerful gravity like the sun but your movement was measured as very slow but you are actually moving at the speed required to escape the suns gravitational field plus whatever speed you are moving so the time slowing would be large.

Thanks for all explanations everyone this stuff is very interesting.
 

FAQ: Einsteins gravity theory (bending space) question

What is Einstein's theory of gravity?

Einstein's theory of gravity, also known as general relativity, states that gravity is not a force between masses, but rather a curvature of space and time caused by the presence of massive objects.

How does Einstein's theory explain the bending of space?

Einstein's theory states that massive objects, such as planets and stars, create a curvature in space-time. This curvature causes objects to follow a curved path around the massive object, which we perceive as the bending of space.

Can you provide an example of the bending of space according to Einstein's theory?

One famous example is the bending of light around massive objects, such as stars. This was first observed during a solar eclipse in 1919, when the position of stars near the sun appeared to shift due to the bending of light caused by the sun's gravity.

How does Einstein's theory of gravity differ from Newton's theory of gravity?

Newtons's theory of gravity states that gravity is a force between masses, and the strength of the force is dependent on the masses and the distance between them. Einstein's theory, on the other hand, explains gravity as a curvature of space-time caused by massive objects.

Has Einstein's theory of gravity been proven?

Many experiments and observations, such as the bending of light and the predictions of the orbit of Mercury, have confirmed the accuracy of Einstein's theory. However, it is still an active area of research and there are ongoing efforts to further test and refine the theory.

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