Is gravity misunderstood?  Is it a push or a pull?
375016
I reckon it's a pull; I've found if I fall down outside a pub, I hit the floor, no matter whether it's in Greenwich, UK, or Australia.\nI have to make an assumption, however, that the Earth is round, which seems reasonable as I've been around it a few times.
324067
No. Gravity has to do with the mass of objects--you have some too.
655647
Force is a vector and it can be -ve.\n\nThrow a ball up. If you take its displacement upwards to be +ve then the gravity pulling it down is in the opp. direction and hence -ve. Thus the force acting on it is -ve.\n\nIts all a question of taking references.
1114940
Pressure can't be associated with a direction coz it is directed in many directions simultaneously. Weight is a vector coz it the gravitational pull that  is always directed towards th centre of earth.
907263
my answer might be childish,but one can understand it easily\nThe gravitational force of earth acting at any point on its surface has a direction towards center of earth.Every matter on the surface is pulled towards the center of earth with this gravitational force.\ndo u know the value of this sticking force acting on every one kg of matter on earth--it is about 10N
37677
its not really a type of force it's just a force that is balanced... like it's in equalibrium because it has another force of equal magnitude going in the opposite direction. such as if there was a 5N force pushing into a wall, it's a balanced force because the system is in equilibrium and the wall is pushing back with a force of 5N.  or if you were pulling on a rope with 8N and it was a balanced force, that would mean that someone else was also pulling with 8N and you aren't going anywhere.\n\nWhen the forces are balanced, that means that there is no net force. this means that whatever the forces are acting on is not experiencing any acceleration, so it's either at rest or moving with a constant velocity(no acceleration).
420366
Yes, that is Newton's first law of motion.  Newton's discovery may seem like a no-brainer to you or I, but at that time many people believed that an object fell to the ground because it was attracted to the earth.  His research opened up many new theories and formulas in the field of physics like work, energy, power, momemtum, and acceleration.\n\n#2 - "The acceleration of an object as produced by a net force is directly proportional to the magnitude of the net force, in the same direction as the net force, and inversely proportional to the mass of the object".  Basically force is equal to mass times acceleration.  F=ma\n\n#3 - "For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction."  This means when you are leaning against a wall, you're applying 60kg of force against the wall and the wall is applying 60kg of force against you.  Action = Reaction.  When this equation doesn't balance out, something will usually break.
112179
Gravity is a force of attraction that acts between bodies that have mass. It is a physical phenomenon of fundamental importance, profoundly affecting the workings of the world around us and the universe beyond. Most familiarly, it is the gravitational attraction of the earth that endows objects with weight and causes them to fall to the ground when dropped. In fact, gravity is also the reason for the very existence of the earth, the sun and other celestial bodies; without it matter would not have coalesced into these bodies and life as we know it would not exist. Gravity is also responsible for keeping the earth and the other planets in their orbits around the sun, the moon in its orbit around the earth, for the tides, and for various other natural phenomena that we observe.\n\nIn common usage "gravity" and "gravitation" are either used interchangeably, or the distinction is sometimes made that "gravity" is specifically the attractive force of the earth, while "gravitation" is the general property of mutual attraction between bodies of matter. In technical usage, "gravitation" is the tendency of bodies to accelerate towards one another, and "gravity" is the force that some theories use to explain this acceleration.\n\nGravity was rather poorly understood until Isaac Newton formulated his law of gravitation in the 17th century. Newton's theory is still widely used for many practical purposes, though for more advanced work it has been supplanted by Einstein's general relativity. While a great deal is now known about the properties of gravity, the ultimate cause of the gravitational force remains an open question and gravity remains an important topic of scientific research.\n\nContents [hide]\n1 Overview of the history of gravitational theory \n2 The Earth's gravity \n2.1 Comparative gravities of the Earth, Sun, Moon and planets \n3 Mathematical equations for a falling body \n3.1 Gravitational potential \n3.2 Acceleration relative to the rotating Earth \n4 Gravity and astronomy \n4.1 Self-gravitating system \n5 Practical uses of gravity \n6 Newton's law of universal gravitation \n6.1 Acceleration due to gravity \n6.2 Bodies with spatial extent \n6.3 Vector form \n6.4 Gravitational field \n7 Problems with Newton's theory \n7.1 Theoretical concerns \n7.2 Disagreement with observation \n7.3 Newton's reservations \n8 Einstein's theory of gravitation \n8.1 Experimental tests \n9 Comparison with electromagnetic force \n10 Gravity and quantum mechanics \n11 Alternative theories \n11.1 Recent alternative theories \n11.2 Historical alternative theories \n12 Notes \n13 See also \n14 References \n15 External links \n \n\n\n[edit]\nOverview of the history of gravitational theory\nThe first mathematical formulation of gravity was Isaac Newton's law of universal gravitation, published in his 1687 work Principia Mathematica. Professor William Whewell of Cambridge University, author of History of the Inductive Sciences (1837) stated:\n\n"The law of gravitation is indisputably and incomparably the greatest scientific discovery ever made, whether we look at the advance which it involved, the extent of the truth disclosed, or the fundamental and satisfactory nature of this truth." [In A Treasury of Science ed. Harlow Shapley et al, Harper & Bros. NY: 1946] \nAlthough the law of universal gravitation was first clearly and rigorously formulated by Isaac Newton, the phenomenon was observed and recorded by others. Even Ptolemy (c. 100-178) had a vague conception of a force tending toward the center of the Earth which not only kept bodies upon its surface, but in some way upheld the order of the universe. Indian astronomer Brahmagupta (598-668), who followed a heliocentric solar system, was the first to recognize gravity as a force of attraction. He explained that "bodies fall towards the Earth as it is in the nature of the Earth to attract bodies
534088
gravitational pull is different in different places on earth. but it is fixed. we cannot change it locally or globally. bcoz it depends on earth's mass, which we cant change.
690650
Some of Einstein's Ideas are already being rewritten. So, quoting him as an end-all to the question of anti-gravity really doesn't mean a whole lot. Newton's laws were rewritten after his time, as science learned more about itself. It's not unreasonable to assume that the same will occur in reguards to this taboo topic too. I remember seeing a video of a man who has come close, with a spinning top device. By itself, it weighs far too much to lift by hand. But, once it is set spinning, it could be lifted by a child. :)\n\nCurrent science is not an absolute. :) Don't give up hope!
693390
Gravity, centrifugal forces and centripetal forces
368233
N is Newtons, a unit that measures force. For every 1kg of something, if it accelerates at 1 meter per second per second (m/s/s or meters per seconds squared), than there is a force of 1N acting on it.\n\nForce is calculated by multiplying the mass (not weight) with the acceleration. For example, if you are 75kg, than there is a force of 75kg X 9.8 m/s/s (acceleration due to gravity: roughly constant on Earth) = 735N pulling you down. BUT, there is a reaction force, in this case the NORMAL, pushing you back up at the same time and force. Therefore, the force pulling you down, 735N, take away the NORMAL, also 735N, and you will have a NET FORCE of 0N because you are stationary. \n\nSo in order to resist something pulling at 14N (ignoring air resistance, friction, etc), it needs to pull back 14N.
941619
In simple English...It means that the pull of gravilty is less at 2 points so the orbit expands at those points before being pulled back in by gravity, and so the eliptical shape occurs.
628196
Depends on the definition of "pull" and "push".
180202
Neither. It's the mass of the planet itself. Everything that has mass projects a gravitational field. The more massive an object is, the bigger its gravitational "pull". This is why objects like the Sun can support several large planets, while Pluto (which has a moon about a third the size of it) gets pulled around by its moon.
474558
The wall does attract objects gravitationaly, but gravity is an exceptionally weak force, and is only noticeable to us humans when dealing with extremely massive objects (like planets, for example).  Gravity is so weak, in fact, that all you have to do to overcome the gravitational pull of the entire Earth is jump.
632008
Gravity, its weight, friction\nThat's about it.