A bowling ball is 10m above the ground and the earths gravity suddenly has no effects on it. What would happen?
Name:
Anonymous2007-11-27 17:28
Assuming the ball is hovering completely still at the moment gravity lets go, then the earths rotation would cause us to perceive the ball moving in a westward direction (though in actuality it's remaining still relative to the solar system).
Eventually the ball would hit a building, or tree, or something. At first it may smash through these items, but each impact would accelerate the ball in a line moving the same direction, and nearly the same speed as the Earth's rotation. We would perceive the ball float off into space (slowly?) and drift in that same direction until affected by the gravity of another body.