What Is Gravity and How Does It Work?

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The title of this article is WHAT IS GRAVITY AND HOW DOES IT WORK? with a picture of an astronaut on a spacewalk.
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Many things in the creation do not lend themselves to conventional science. Gravity is an excellent example. What is gravity, and where did it come from? Isaac Newton suggested that gravity is a property of mass because the more mass something has, the more it weighs. A physics equation describes gravity, saying that if you have two masses, there will be a force of attraction between them.

In a high school physics experiment, we hung two large bags of sand near each other. Gravity would pull them toward each other, and if you increased the amount of sand, it would draw them closer. Using a group of levers, the students could measure the force between the two bags. We can measure gravity, but what is it?

A young beautiful lady flies in zero gravity room.

Instead of bags of sand, scientists measure the gravity force between the Earth, Moon, and Sun. What keeps Earth orbiting the Sun and the Moon orbiting the Earth? Isaac Newton proposed that the distance between objects affected the amount of gravitational force between them. An equation describing the attraction between masses 1 and 2 must include the masses, the distance between them, and a number known as the gravitational constant. The equation is F = G (m₁ m₂) / r ². G is the gravitational constant, and scientists have measured it to be 6.67 x 10^-11. If the value of the constant G differed from what it is, the Earth could not exist, and neither could we.

If you do not follow all of that, do not worry. The point is that gravity is a complex quantity that holds everything together, and it has to have precisely the strength it has. But that leaves questions unanswered. What is gravity? Is it a wave? How can it work over huge distances? How can mass cause gravity — or does it? Why does the gravity constant have precisely the value it has?

As science probes deeper into the nature of matter, time, space, and energy, it becomes increasingly evident that not everything physical has a physical cause. We cannot explain the creation of time, space, energy, or gravity by conventional science. As you read modern research reports, you see that our world was shaped from dimensions beyond the four we know. The laws that govern our world and the dimensions we live in do not fully describe the nature of gravity, time, or even space.

Ancient biblical writers guided by the Spirit of God understood that a wise Creator designed our world. The writer of Proverbs 8 personifies wisdom, giving it a feminine nature. Wisdom says, “O you simple, understand wisdom and have an understanding heart. … The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way before his works of old. I was set up from eternity, from the beginning and before the earth ever was.”

Open-minded contemplation of the creation leads to the recognition that an infinite intelligence beyond that of any human brought the physical creation into existence. The Bible teaches that God's purpose was to allow the battle between good and evil to end once and forever and that we play an essential role in that war.

A group of young people jumping outdoors.

— John N. Clayton

Scripture links/references are from BibleGateway.com. Unhighlighted scriptures can be looked up at their website.