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IANAP but wanted to say this - Same argument could be made for EM force. There is electric field around a charge but only when you place another charge the two

IANAP but wanted to say this - Same argument could be made for EM force. There is electric field around a charge but only when you place another charge the two charges attract or repel as per electromagnetic force. That way gravity and EM seem to be similar. But gravity does seem to be different as it can be thought of as not a force (in agreement with your physics teacher). It curves space and time and objects just move along the geodesics (straight lines on curved surfaces). So gravity gives rise to space time geometry. Once that happens, you can stop thinking about gravity as a force. Worth emphasizing again - IANAP.

geomark 5y ago
Right. Just like the force between opposite charges. That's how I've always thought of it. Small nit - I think it is actually called electrostatic force, at least when we are talking about charges at rest.
- hexane360 5y ago
  Is there a way to describe electrostatics as objects following inertial trajectories through curved space?
DangitBobby 5y ago
See, that makes sense. I've heard it said before that gravity is not a force, and my thoughts were just that it obviously is a force. And of course here we are, cutting through the pedantry to learn that they were in fact not communicating anything actually meaningful with the phrase. You could simply say that potential energy and kinetic energy are different and it would be just as meaningful as what people mean when they say gravity is not a force. It's misleading. A single particle creates a gravitational potential that exerts nothing on its own. Okay. I say this as someone with a BS in Physics. Thank you for your explanation.
- kjeetgill 5y ago
  If you haven't seen it yet, this thread hes devolved into a refutation of OPs recollection of their teacher's explanation. There are other people rice chimed in about why Gravity isn't a force: Basically because gravity is space-time curvature and it's objects in free fall that are at rest.

geomark 5y ago

Right. Just like the force between opposite charges. That's how I've always thought of it. Small nit - I think it is actually called electrostatic force, at least when we are talking about charges at rest.

hexane360 5y ago
Is there a way to describe electrostatics as objects following inertial trajectories through curved space?

DangitBobby 5y ago

See, that makes sense. I've heard it said before that gravity is not a force, and my thoughts were just that it obviously is a force. And of course here we are, cutting through the pedantry to learn that they were in fact not communicating anything actually meaningful with the phrase. You could simply say that potential energy and kinetic energy are different and it would be just as meaningful as what people mean when they say gravity is not a force. It's misleading. A single particle creates a gravitational potential that exerts nothing on its own. Okay. I say this as someone with a BS in Physics. Thank you for your explanation.

kjeetgill 5y ago
If you haven't seen it yet, this thread hes devolved into a refutation of OPs recollection of their teacher's explanation. There are other people rice chimed in about why Gravity isn't a force: Basically because gravity is space-time curvature and it's objects in free fall that are at rest.