Small objects can show that gravity is real. The Cavendish experiment proved that even tiny masses pull on each other, showing gravity works everywhere, not just between planets.

really unclear if that is just charge polarization / electrostatics. Separate the big weights via glass, do in vacuum, ground it, or use ceramic ?

I love the stupid comments on this post arguing with the results when you could easily just look this up online and learn something

They even wrote a Community Note with a nonsense rant and a generic Wikipedia link to say it's "highly unlikely" when this is from a documentary. a And the note is BEING RATED AS HELPFUL. Next generation of ignorance and weaponization. Obviously always under my posts.

Electromagnetic force is vastly stronger (10^36 to 10^42 times) than the gravitational force. It is extremely difficult to obtain a metal alloy with a purely neutral electrical charge.

How can one be sure it's not some other force, e.g. like a weak magnetic field?

But how do you explain why people are repelled by fat people not attracted? Checkmate science

That’s why cars in front of me have so much trouble passing big trucks

How much is the video sped up? If I do a back-of-the-envelope calculation (big ball diameter ≈ 8 cm, distance between the balls also ≈ 8 cm), I get an initial acceleration of about 2 × 10⁻⁷ m/s². At that rate, it should take roughly 9 minutes for the two balls to touch.

Do this with wood instead of lead. It won't work.

Then Einstein showed that the objects are not actually pulling on each other.

Electrostatic energy can account for this.

Is that a time lapse video? It wouldn’t be that strong…

The idea is right. But the video is wrong. First, the experiment should be done in some space with no air flow, like covered in glass or vacuumed. Second, the movement should happens in hours due to the force is only nano newtons, not so fast like in the video.

I’m VERY sceptical of that demonstration. Rigorous performance of the Cavendish experiment is done in vacuo, and with much larger static masses.

The Cavendish experiment demonstrated that gravity acts on small objects too, measuring the attraction between tiny masses and confirming that gravitational forces are universal, not limited to planets, revealing the fundamental reach of this natural force.

Then what is preventing the moon from crashing into the much larger mass of the earth, or the entire solar system crashing into the sun? Gravitational pull must be constant, so how does the moon & planets maintain their distance from the earth & sun?

Something more : And what about the metallic rod that connects the two spheres, which ITSELF can also introduce a polarizing parameter at the ends of the two spheres since it too is ferromagnetic.... WHO thought of this?

Has this experiment been shown to work in a vacuum? If not, it does not conclusively prove it's due to gravity.

If you are a mechanic, you already know this. Ever dropped bolt, nut, and socket goes to the center of mass of the vehicle...

second time I see this video going around. I don't think it is real. Steve Mould made a video debunking a similar video. @grok what do you think? @Rainmaker1973 what do you think? Is it real time, If the rea time is knwn, one can estimate the temporal response. I think it is too fast even if there is no restoring force from the twisting of the string.

But why not bigger ?

One of the most elegant Physics experiments ever conducted - brilliant simplicity and profound consequences. Another one was the Michelson-Morley experiment.

universal means universal.

Sorcery

Is this a joke?

Was that the experiment that was used to calculate the mass of the Earth?

Так ось воно що. Маса мого дивану набагато більша за мою. А я не лінивий, ні, ні в якому разі. So here it is. The mass of my sofa is much greater than mine. And I am not lazy, no, not at all.

this was one of my favorite experiments during first year, loved how one could get to the gravity constant with simple means ☺️

The experiment isn't as easy as shown in the video, as the gravitational force is really tiny. That's why the gravitational constant is one of the least precise known constants in modern physics.

Structure enforcing structure.

@grok is this the way we measure the G constant nowadays?

@grok I doubt the gravitational change would be significant enough here. Explain

You know G is a very tiny constant, 6,67×10^{-11} = 0,00000000006 . The aceleration for a 15 cm lead balls would be aprox. 10^{-8} m/s^2. It is not easy to measure such a small value. But with the right setup it is surely possible.

Unless it's locked, you know, like the moon 🤔

My physics teacher did this with a somewhat similar setup in high school. It is real. Key is to remove all friction and use a special type of filament that exerts no force. It looks like magic when you see it in person.