People often illustrate space-time curvature with an heavy ball curving a sheet but the heavy ball is curving the sheet because that heavy ball is pulled by Earth’s gravity but in space there is no gravity without space time bending,so while there is no gravity how is the space-time bent wherever there is mass?
In: Physics
The ball/ sheet example is a just a visual aid to help in picturing what is happening, not a literal recreation. The important part is that the presence of the ball is warping the sheet, just as how in reality, the presence of a planet warps sapacetime around it.
The reason the ball warps the sheet is different to the reason a planet warps spacetime, but for the purposes of the illustration that doesn’t matter, the key part is that you can see the sheet being warped by the presence of the ball.
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