If gravity is curvature of space, and everything is traveling in a straight line in the curved space, then why do two objects traveling with different speed in same direction from same point take different trajectory?
Q2) Curvature explains orbiting satellites, but then how does simple falling of objects is described?
In: 1
It isn’t just space that curves, but *space-time*.
Objects with mass create a time gradient around themselves. The closer you get to an object, the slower time runs. Objects larger than point size experience a “time shear”, meaning part of the object closest to another moves through time slightly slower, and part of the object farthest away moves slightly faster. The slower moving portion essentially drags the faster moving portion through space, bending its trajectory, creating the illusion of acceleration from a particular reference frame.
This video explains it:
The force of gravity you feel from the ground below is essentially Earth’s matter constantly pushing you away from your inertial path.
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