What is larger the force the earth exerts on you or the force you exert on the earth?

Answer 1

A non-scientist's initial stab at this: If you are talking about gravity, they are equal. I don't see how they can be anything BUT equal. Gravity is an attractive force between two bodies. Every particle of my body attracts every particle of the earth. It wouldn't be stated any differently from the earth's point of view. [Actually, there is a flaw in the way you are framing the question, since the 2 "forces" you refer to can never be separated and studied independently]. The earth has much more inertia, so I move toward the earth. The attractive force between the earth and moon is much greater than the attractive force between the earth and me. If I were in the moon's orbital path (but nowhere close to the moon) and traveling at the same velocity as the moon, I'd fly off into space, or maybe enter a wildly eccentric orbit that would eventually bring me crashing into the earth. The force being talked about in the question (but which was unspecified) must be gravity. Gravity is a function of mass. The more mass an object has, the more gravitational force it generates. The earth is far more massive than any individual, and the earth generates a far larger gravitational field than any individual. It's just that simple. If another way to look at it will help, try this: The earth pulls each of us down. When we're standing next to someone, the earth pulls us both down. But we are actually attracting that person (and that person is attracting us) by virtue of the gravity created by our own masses. Do we "fall" toward each other? No, we don't. The gravimetric forces between individuals are very small. ANSWER The answer to your question can be found two ways. First, you can use Newton's Third Law. If object "A" exerts a force on object "B" , then object "B" will exert an equal force back on "A". This makes it pretty clear the forces are equal. Second, you can use Newtons Law of Gravitational force. "The force that one mass exerts on a second mass is proportional to the product of the two masses". This means if you calculate the force the Earth exerts on you , you multiply the Earth's mass times your mass. And if you calculate the force you exert on the Earth ,you again multiply the two masses. Another words you do the exact same calculation , so you will get the same answer.