Why can’t we create our own gravity, like lab created gravity. Isn’t gravity just a big object pushing down on some sort of “plane” ?
In: Physics
Just to add to the other answers, I want to note that you _can_ create gravity in the lab. You can even do it in your basement! You just can’t “cheat” to make it, you have to do it the old fashioned way…with a big, heavy object.
However, thanks to the magic of a torsion balance you can actually see the visible effects of gravity (and not just by dropping things) with a rather simple experimental apparatus.
[Here’s a how-to write up](https://www.fourmilab.ch/gravitation/foobar/). Basically, take a lightweight horizontal beam with two lead weights, one on each end. Balance it from a few feet of fishing line, hanging down from above. Allow it to come to equilibrium so it’s not spinning. Now place a couple of heavy weights or blocks a few inches away from the weights, clockwise (or counterclockwise). Gravity will draw the weights on the beam towards the large weights, causing it to rotate slightly. The weak force of gravity is still able to show up because other forces are in balance and the beam can spin without significant friction.
This experiment was originally performed by Cavendish in the late 1790s
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cavendish_experiment
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