Gravity is the weakest fundamental force, yes. At least, at relatively close distances. The advantage gravity has is that it never quite goes away, no matter how far you are.
this post was submitted on 10 Apr 2025
1377 points (98.9% liked)
Science Memes
14607 readers
382 users here now
Welcome to c/science_memes @ Mander.xyz!
A place for majestic STEMLORD peacocking, as well as memes about the realities of working in a lab.
Rules
- Don't throw mud. Behave like an intellectual and remember the human.
- Keep it rooted (on topic).
- No spam.
- Infographics welcome, get schooled.
This is a science community. We use the Dawkins definition of meme.
Research Committee
Other Mander Communities
Science and Research
Biology and Life Sciences
- !abiogenesis@mander.xyz
- !animal-behavior@mander.xyz
- !anthropology@mander.xyz
- !arachnology@mander.xyz
- !balconygardening@slrpnk.net
- !biodiversity@mander.xyz
- !biology@mander.xyz
- !biophysics@mander.xyz
- !botany@mander.xyz
- !ecology@mander.xyz
- !entomology@mander.xyz
- !fermentation@mander.xyz
- !herpetology@mander.xyz
- !houseplants@mander.xyz
- !medicine@mander.xyz
- !microscopy@mander.xyz
- !mycology@mander.xyz
- !nudibranchs@mander.xyz
- !nutrition@mander.xyz
- !palaeoecology@mander.xyz
- !palaeontology@mander.xyz
- !photosynthesis@mander.xyz
- !plantid@mander.xyz
- !plants@mander.xyz
- !reptiles and amphibians@mander.xyz
Physical Sciences
- !astronomy@mander.xyz
- !chemistry@mander.xyz
- !earthscience@mander.xyz
- !geography@mander.xyz
- !geospatial@mander.xyz
- !nuclear@mander.xyz
- !physics@mander.xyz
- !quantum-computing@mander.xyz
- !spectroscopy@mander.xyz
Humanities and Social Sciences
Practical and Applied Sciences
- !exercise-and sports-science@mander.xyz
- !gardening@mander.xyz
- !self sufficiency@mander.xyz
- !soilscience@slrpnk.net
- !terrariums@mander.xyz
- !timelapse@mander.xyz
Memes
Miscellaneous
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
So it's like humans? π€
We aren't particularly strong or fast, but we became apex predators because we never. Stop. Coming.
Also, we, never, stop, cumming.
So much to cum, so much to cum,
Can you imagine being those antelope being hunted by early human ancestors -
"Ok, bob, we just bolted at 40mph for a minute or so, they're not going to find us again."
"Clarice, you said that the last 8 times and they still showed up! They're unnatural! They just keep following and following us! Alex smashed his shin that last run, and I don't know how many more times I can run myself! We're doomed Clarice! Doomed!"
It's basically a zombie movie, but the main character is Bambi.
They cannot be bargained with. They cannot be reasoned with. They don't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And they absolutely will not stop. Ever. Until you are dead.
Exactly. Raise your hand. Great, you overcame gravity for a second. Keep your hand raised for a minute. 10 minutes. An hour. Fuck, gravity doesn't stop. It's exactly like us.
I mean yeah but also you reverse that square enough and it's effectively zero
But never actually zero, unlike those other quitter "forces"
Is that actually true? I'm not an expert but I thought all forces extend our into infinity. I thought we just allowed them to go to 0 at a certain radius for the sake of making the math manageable.
Not the person you replied to, and not really an expert either, but I can tell you that the W and Z bosons (force carriers for the weak force) are very short lived and can only travel through space so far before they decay. This effectively puts a cap on the distance of weak interactions.
Strong force is the same.
I don't know if it's shorter than the weak force, but you gotta be in an atom's nucleus to experience it
Edit: i just realized I may have confused people - strong force has a limited distance, not that it's because they decay.
Edit 2: If i ever got a PhD or master's even in Physics, id probably write a book on how "The Universe Demands Laziness." Because pretty much everything in physics ends up with a system taking shortcuts to save a little bit of energy.
load more comments
(8 replies)
load more comments
(3 replies)
The advantage gravity has is that it never quite goes away, no matter how far you are.
That's true of all the fundamental forces, though. They all drop off over distance with inverse square laws. Like if you had two lone electrons in an otherwise empty universe, their electromagnetic repulsion would also persist indefinitely at 1/r^2 strength, just like gravity. The difference is that our universe has near-perfect charge neutrality at large scales.
Electromagnetic doesn't go away either. It's that damn negavite charge neutralizing the stuff.
load more comments
(3 replies)
Gravityβs so powerful, itβs letting you win this round just to remind you whoβs really in charge when you drop your phone
Say that to gravity when you start even 5m above the ground.
Gravity ain't shit. It's not the falling that kills you, it's the impact at the bottom. Which are electromagnetic forces.
Well the electromagnetic forces in your bones are no match for the accumulated energy of a few seconds of gravity.
Yeah, go ahead, how long can you keep it up? The earth can wait longer than you.
Challenge accepted
Now keep this hand raised for an hour. Who's the bitch now ?
If it takes your an hour to wear me down, you're weak. No matter how inexhaustible your power is.
How about 10 minutes ? World record is 9.
https://exactlyhowlong.com/how-long-can-a-person-hold-their-arms-up-and-why/
load more comments
(7 replies)
Oh don't worry, it will be way less than an hour :P
load more comments
(2 replies)
Weak you say?... See those merging black holes? Proceeds to casually dissapear 3 solar masses in less than a second... Yeah.
I just overcame the gravitational pull of the entire planet with my dick.
If your dick overcomes the gravitational pull of the entire planet for more than four hours, seek medical attention
username checks out
load more comments
(2 replies)
You didnβt overcome it, you spend some energy that the earth will eventually get back.
Unless you leave earth, gravity will eventually win.
The house always wins.
load more comments
(8 replies)
This unlocked a song that has been buried in my mind for YEARS:
Now some of you may think that gravity is strong Cuz when you fall Off your bicycle It don't take long Until you hit the earth And you say, "Dang that hurt!"
But if you think the force Is powerful You're wrong
You see, gravity It's weaker than weak!
And the reason why Is something many Scientists seek
They think about dimensions We live in just three But maybe there are others That are too small to see
It's into these dimensions that gravity extends Which makes it seem weaker here on our end
And these dimensions are rolled up, curled so tight That they don't affect you in your day-to-day life
But if you were as tiny as a graviton You could enter these dimensions and go wandering on And they'd find you...
LHCb sees where the antimatter's gone, ALICE looks at collisions of lead ions
load more comments
(2 replies)
Did he just tough-talk the curvature of space-time?
thats just because the gravitational pull of your hand is weak shit.
Get more mass, massless nerd.
load more comments
(3 replies)
And now jump in the air and escape the gravitational pull.
12 kilometers straight up.
- 150 km.
Gravity not so weak now, huh?
load more comments
(3 replies)
And still it is powerful enough to completely close off parts of the universe from the rest. Truly fascinating.
Back issues are Gravity's revenge.
Yeah but ainβt no motherfucker gonna soon be jumping over onto the moon with pure human leg power. Still gotta detonate a slowly exploding bomb under our asses to leave this rock-covered ball bearing.
True, however⦠as you press into this planet, this planet presses into you.
Overcome? The hand is clearly still under the effect of gravity as it is not flowing into the space. It just decelerates a tiny bit.
Supermassive Blackholes: "Gravity is weak, huh?"