View Single Post
  #102 (permalink)  
Old 01-February-2004, 05:55 AM
Kaptain K's Avatar
Kaptain K Kaptain K is offline
Order of Kilopi
 
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Elgin, Tx
Posts: 7,666
Default

Quote:
That's what I'm getting at, actually. The electromagnetic force is stronger than gravitation, but only over shorter distances. Nobody has any understanding as to why this is true.
Not true!
1) The electromagnetic force is many orders of magnitude stronger than gravity. That is why an electromagnet can lift a steel bar against the gravitational pull of the entire Earth.
2) The range of the electromagnetic force is the same as that of gravity (infinite). The Earth is pulling from over 6000 kilometers away. The electromagnet is in contact (or very close to it) with the steel. The gravitational pull of the electromagnet on the steel is negligible and would be would be orders of magnitude less from 6000 kilometers away, but it would still be there (in the same ratio to its magnetic attraction).
__________________
Any day you wake up on "the right side of the dirt" is a good day.

T. Anderson
Reply With Quote