Re: tobs: universal ground zero\ comments from Bernard Lovell

On Fri, 28 Nov 2003, peter legge wrote:

>
> > Actually, gravity is by far the weakest of the natural forces. I have
> > a magnet that will fit in the palm of my hand that can exert a greater
> > force on a paper clip than the entire Earth's gravity does.
>
> How can you say that?
> If all that existed in the universe were the Earth, your magnet and the
> paper clip and they were equidistant then there would be a different
> result to the one you state.......

Toss a watermelon off the top of a tall building, it will be accelerated
via the force of gravity for several seconds.  The splat you hear when it
reaches the ground is the electro-magnetic force stopping the melon
instantly.

Gravity reaches for greater distance but EM is orders of magnitude
stronger.