The REAL source of Gravity might SURPRISE you...
Why Physics Stack Exchange recommends it
Physics Stack Exchange answerers recommend it as an accessible, mostly accurate picture of why gravity in weak fields is dominated by time curvature rather than the rubber sheet analogy.
Recommended by 2 people across 2 different months, 2021 to 2024.
What it is
A short explainer from The Science Asylum arguing that gravity in general relativity can be understood mainly through gravitational time dilation, with the flow of time bringing masses together. Nick Lucid uses simple visuals to explain what spacetime curvature means and why most of the curvature in weak fields is in time.
What people said
Recommends Eric Smith · 2021-04 · Physics Stack Exchange · on “Why does time 'change' when gravity increases?”
Yes, gravitational time dilation is due to the warping of space-time by matter. The pop-science picture of this warping as being like a heavy mass sitting on a rubber sheet is misleading, because that shows only the spatial warping. But in fact in ordinary circumstances by far the largest component of the warping is in the time dimension; that is, while matter warps both space and time, it mostly warps time (strictly speaking mass doesn't warp space at all, but the pressure inside matter does). An entertaining, if somewhat simplified, view of this is the Science Asylum video at [this video]
Recommends RC_23 · 2024-03 · Physics Stack Exchange · on “How would objects move in a linear gravitational field?”
The uniform field in one direction is basically what we experience on the surface of Earth. The illustrations you see like the rubber sheet bent by a heavy object are just trying to give you a rough conceptual idea. They are not a correct description of General Relativity when you analyze it in detail. The thing to remember is, space is not just curved – spacetime is curved. And in weak gravity fields, nearly all the curvature is in time, not in space. Here is a good explanation that is scientifically accurate, with good visualizations as well. The channel itself is a great guide for introduction to moderately advanced physics concepts [this video] First let's take a familiar case of space curvat
Cites jng224 · 2021-01 · Physics Stack Exchange · on “How much of gravity is caused by time dilation?”
I just watched this video [this video] where it is explained how time dilation causes gravity. It is said in this video that time dilation (caused by masses such as the earth) is the only cause for gravity. But then, what about the curving of space ? Does this not contribute to gravity (by objects following the straightest line as depicted in this image [LINK] )? Is gravity only caused by gravitational time dilation, if yes, why does the curving of space not have any effect and if no, how much of gravity is caused by time dilation compared to the curving of space? Note: I am aware that one cannot actually split the curving of spacetime into two things (the curving of time, and space seperately).