3 ms·
The curvature depends on the mass of the earth, but it _doesn't_ depend on the mass of the photon/ball.
by thewakalix 6y ago
The curvature depends on the mass of the earth, but it _doesn't_ depend on the mass of the photon/ball.
- dreamcompiler 6y agoThe curvature does indeed depend on the ball's mass. The contribution to spacetime curvature the ball's mass brings to the table is extremely small compared to that of the earth, and the contribution that comes from the (massless) photon's energy[0] is smaller still, but they both influence the spacetime curvature. [0] Photons bend spacetime according to GR, although as far as I know this has not been proven experimentally. We'll probably need a theory of quantum gravity to be sure.
- thewakalix 6y agoI’d think that the curvature of spacetime due to the ball’s mass wouldn’t affect the ball’s trajectory, for similar reasons as why the electric field from a charged particle doesn’t move the particle itself.