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To: js1138; metmom; tpanther
Whatever gravity is, it is detectable, measurable, quantifiable, consistent, predictable and all the other ables that make a phenomenon accessible to science.

I still challenge you to detect gravity in freefall.

Specifically you are in a space capsule with no windows. You are in freefall toward a large airless planet with the mass of Earth and you will impact on its surface in less than 24 hours. Said impact will be less than pleasant for you and your capsule. You have all kinds of instruments but nothing that will tell you anything about things outside your capsule.

How do you detect the gravity that is most certainly acting on your capsule, everything in it, including yourself? At what acceleration is said gravity acting on your capsule? How fast are you currently going and how fast will you be going when your head suddenly tries to occupy the same space as your feet?

866 posted on 01/02/2009 8:04:56 PM PST by Swordmaker (Remember, the proper pronunciation of IE is "AAAAIIIIIEEEEEEE!)
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To: Swordmaker
I still challenge you to detect gravity in freefall.

I understand that gravity cannot be distinguished from acceleration. But do a thought experiment. Never mind that it is impractical. Einstein's thought experiments about riding a light beam were impractical.

The fact that "you" are in free fall indicates you are a body of some kind. If you have any mass, you have gravity. If you have gravity, it is possible, in principle to detect and measure it.

The earth, for example, is a body in free fall. It is continually falling around the sun.

870 posted on 01/02/2009 8:12:05 PM PST by js1138
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