Question

What causes masses to be attracted to each other?

Answer 1

Nobody really knows. Einstein's special theory of relativity posits gravity as a warp of space-time caused by the object's mass, but that only pushes the question one layer further down. All we know for sure is that gravity exists, is pervasive, and can be important.

Answer 2

You have to think of gravity as a fabric, more like nylon. If you stretch the fabric across a large opening, like a bucket, and place a marble, you will see that the marble bends the fabric. If you put another marble near the first, you will notice that the marbles fall toward each other; or as they say, attract. Now, this is a 2 dimensional view of the fabric that makes up our universe. In 3-D, masses can fall toward each other from any direction, up, down, left, right, foward, behind...etc. Think of our sun as a giant marble in that nylon fabric. The sun would be in the middle. Now think of a planet like say, the earth with a radius of 1 from the sun. If you push the earth (marble) around the sun (marble), you will notice that the earth will swing around the sun and then fall toward the sun. This is a similar, yet very small scale model of our solar system and how the gravity works.

Answer 3

All mass Creates a gravitational Field or a curve in space like a planet. So an example of space being curved is light you see a star to the right of a moon, What you are really looking at is a star behind the moon see the moon which is Mass create a curve in space causing the light to bend, you can take this same concept and apply it to mass in general if an asteroid for example comes with in x amount of distances form are planet then the gravitational force of the earths mass will pull it towards earth, think of it like a ball hanging in a bowl the ball mass, the bowl the gravitational force it is exerting if water is dropped from above it falls but fallows the curvature of the bowl, same thing for why mass attracts mass.

Answer 4

2 guys running, the smaller guy starts heading towards the smaller guy, gravity my man.. . 1)Gravitational force is small between objects with small masses.. . 2)Gravitational force is larger between objects with larger masses. . 3)If the distance between two objects is increased, the gravitational force pulling them together is reduced. . 4)Gravity comes from the earth's magnetic feild and atmoshphere.

Answer 5

Physics can't answer that question yet. There is a hypothetical particle called a "graviton" that might be the carrier of gravity, but so far it has never been detected.

Answer 6

Mass bends space-time so things move together like when you drop marbles into a funnel

Answer 7

According to Einstien, it's velocity. Gravity in his theory is a 4th dimensional tensor quantity.