[Capitalism2003]

10^-27*(m1*m2)/d^2

did I remember this right? the attraction between two bodies in space =

10^-27*(m1*m2)/d^2

We need a science board on FR. I like these sort of conversations cuz I'm a geek. ;)

[Windcatcher]

LOL I haven't been in Physics in ten years. It looks right, but I can't speak for the constant. It's essentially G * m1 * m2/r^2, but I don't remember what G is (we usually just looked it up).

In the case of bending light, however, the classical calculation really isn't the point. We're really talking about general relativity. Mass bends spacetime. The light is still moving in a straight line, it's just that spacetime becomes curved in the vicinity of an object with mass. If light passes by an electron-positron pair (or any other pair) of virtual particles that arose from spacetime's "frothiness", the mass of the particle pair will warp space and cause the light's trajectory to change.

Of course, we're talking about "virtual" particles. No one ever really explained this to me satisfactorily, but my impression is that it means that space is curved ("frothy") in such a way that it has the same effect as if there were particles with mass present. Of course, I could be totally off base there...