Why does mass have gravity what causes it?

Answer 1

The teacher's manual answer is that mass warps space. But the real answer is "Just Because" it's what mass does. == It's interesting in this day and age when we're on the threshold of discovering the very basic nature of the universe by virtue of our understanding of matter and spacetime that we don't know more about gravity. For as long as I can remember, the best answer for the question "what is gravity?" is this one: We don't really know. It's still true. Accept it. Say it with me: we don't really know. See? It didn't stop working just because we made that admission. We know what gravity does. There is a wonderful history associated with its quantification. We can sure measure its effects, can't we? Those elegant sets of calculations for, say, the music of the spheres, are nothing short of breathtaking. But what is it that is accessible to the rest of us that lets us get a handle on gravity? There really isn't too much. Let's review. Matter has mass and occupies space. By virtue of just existing, matter warps spacetime. It puts a dent in it. But that doesn't provide too much extra help. Spacetime is (hold on to your seat) a mathematical construct. Darn it! That ain't any help! Perhaps an experiment would help. Try something that's been passed along to teachers here and there. The necessary equipment list includes a bed sheet and two modestly heavy balls like croquet balls. Lighter balls like tennis balls won't work as well, but a bit of creative thinking and experimenting will allow one to make a good substitute for the wooden spheres. Four students hold a bed sheet by the corners and stretch it out. Hold it steady! Put a ball in near the middle. See the dent? That's what mass (the ball) does to spacetiime (the sheet). This is a two-dimensional model, but it is really quite good. Now add the second ball near the first one. (A bit of practice might be required because there are limits on what the bed sheet will allow. Try short sheeting the setup from one or from two adjacent sides.) The second ball makes a dent like the first one, but the space between them is deformed, and the balls will roll together. If they are placed too far apart, the demonstration breaks down, but that's where the practice comes in. Lastly, it's absolutely wonderful and exciting that we don't know more about gravity! We know all this other stuff. All this other science and technological stuff. And yet here is gravity! It is so big, so broad in its effect, that it is the large scale organizer of the whole universe itself! We have spent our entire lives in it, and we react to it without thinking when we move. And yet it stands in defiance of our understanding! Hey! Anybody wanna Nobel prize? Wanna become world famous? Wanna have hotties asking you for your phone number? We have this little problem that needs solving....

Answer 2

Gravity is a property of mass. In an analogous manner one may say that yellow is a property of pure sulfur. Or that transparency is a property of many silicate materials.

It is not a cause and effect process such as photosynthesis and the production of oxygen.

Physicists now know that there are a family of sub-atomic particles that in various configurations make things such as protons and neutrons, but the exact nature of these is not well understood. It is suspected that the Higgs Field is the sub-atomic process from which mass derives, but the mechanism is not well understood.

Answer 3

Gravity is the name given to a phenomenon wherein matter attracts matter. Gravity, which is a "dent" in spacetime, is proportional to the masses that are attracting one another because it is the amount of mass that determines the amount of gravimetric attraction. The real scoop is that the depth of the "dent" that a mass makes in spacetime is proportional to the mass of the object making the dent. The more massive it is, the deeper the dent, and the more gravity it has. It's that simple.

Answer 4

Mass doesn't cause gravity; it just responds to the influence of gravity, and thus demonstrates
gravity's presence.

The force of gravity between two objects is proportional to the product of the two masses.
So the more mass is involved in the pair, the stronger the force is between them.

Answer 5

Mass have gravity because it causes an object to have weight in gravitational field.

For example ,the mass of an object remains constant regardless of its location. Thus, as a satellite moves away from the gravitational pull of the Earth, its weight decreases but its mass remains the same.

Gravity is caused by the resistance of a body to a change in motion or inertia (property of a body that makes it oppose any force that would cause a change in its motion).

Answer 6

That's a really good question that a lot of physicists would like to know the answer to. One theory is that it has to do with a particle called the Higgs boson which has been predicted but never observed. One of the things scientists at the Large Hadron Collider will be doing is looking for the Higgs boson.

Answer 7

Nobody knows. It just does.

There doesn't seem to be any fundamental reason that inertial mass should be equal to gravitic mass either, but as far as we can tell it is.