What if Gravity Suddenly Disappeared for 5 Seconds?

Gravity is so indispensable that we literally take the force for granted. So, we don’t think about the importance of gravity on a daily basis. But for those who are interested in science, a question will arise: What if gravity disappeared? Well, we will explore the gravity-free world — for just 5 seconds.

What is gravity?

Before we discuss the absence of gravity, let’s learn more about the force to understand the context better.

Gravity is the force attracting any object with mass, from vast galaxies, to individual planets, to each atom. In fact, you have your own gravitational pull, too. Nevertheless, it’s too meager to detect in everyday life.

If you think of the structure of the Solar System, you’ll observe that gravity holds the planets, moons, and the Sun together. But that’s not all. Everything is affected by the force. Thus, if you investigate what is causing the atmosphere, seas, lakes, and other objects to stay on the floor, they’re all thanks to that force.

Gravity is also why we see exotic celestial bodies such as black holes and neutron stars. Without them, their identity would instantly break without a trace.

To get out of one’s gravitational influence, you must reach its escape velocity. That’s why rockets are so powerful: They need to push the entire heavy thing to 11.2 kilometers per second! Furthermore, the escape velocity of black holes are higher than the speed of light, so nothing can break free once entering the event horizon.

What if Gravity Disappeared?

As mentioned, gravity is a vital force to our survival. If the fundamental force went away permanently, it would make the cosmos an entirely different place.

Firstly, all planets and stars would disconnect from each other as they fly away freely. Next, the celestial objects themselves split up internally as there was no force holding them in one piece.

Stars are even extinguishing faster because they are in a balance between gravity and the consequent pressure release. With gases that compact, stars would inflate and disappear with the absence of gravity. This happens as fast as the star’s gravitational acceleration.

To avoid those catastrophic outcomes where objects are structurally disassembled, let’s shorten the time frame to only five seconds. But, the results are still awful.

The Five-Second Part

Let’s assume that some magic wizards realized this event and resumed gravity within five seconds. But, the medical systems would be more stressed than the pressure throughout the pandemic. So, let’s find out the different problems we’ll face.

First of all, the Sun would expand quickly, and the planets would veer off its orbit in its orbital velocity. For Earth, it’s 30 kilometers per hour. It’s not enough to fling our planet off the habitable zone. Still, the Sun’s massive explosion could theoretically shock the planet.

Let’s go more local because the effects of losing gravity for 5 seconds won’t be huge at the galactic level. For instance, your body and every other object could break apart as individual particles because gravity holds every single atom together, after all. Although the force will pull the objects back on the resumption, the particles of smaller objects will be so far apart that they’re unrecoverable.

Meanwhile, water would cause “mid-air floods” (What If, 2020), and the atmosphere would escape since there was no gravity. We would suffer from a lack of oxygen. But, the atmosphere would restore, right? Well, not entirely. Some water and air molecules have already floated freely into space. It may take an eternity to get the particles back randomly in space.

When the Suspension is Over

But, the most disastrous part of the story was upon the resumption of gravity. Suppose we weren’t disintegrated during the loss, which is a best-case scenario for a situation that dire, a lot of natural disasters could occur, causing millions of people to die.

Firstly, let’s go a bit back and see the effects. Firstly, everything would float if gravity disappeared. Then, once it comes back, it would literally smash everything to the ground if they aren’t secure. Animals, including us, would be severely injured, vehicles would land hard, and planes will nosedive from the sky.

This event would already cause a lot of fatalities, right? But that’s only a tiny portion of the full view.

More Disasters

What’s worse, massive earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions would be present after the gravitational pause.

Logically, you would think that Earth would expand quite substantially, right? That’s correct. That could cause massive volcanic eruptions since lava is always finding their way out to Earth’s surface. At the same time, Earth would be slightly bigger than before, but it’s not going to be better.

What if we lived on a super-Earth? Let’s find out another form of the story.

When Earth’s crust, mantle, and core shrinks back, they crash together, causing earthquakes. Seismic waves would be globally distributed, and the magnitude would be unprecedented.

Moreover, tsunamis would appear through the two disasters mentioned before. The phenomenon would be too enormous for coastal areas to withstand.

That way, the count of the casualties would easily be over one billion. There would be not enough doctors, nurses, and the hospitals and clinics would be overwhelmed.

Conclusion

We talked about the consequences of what if gravity disappeared in this article. You can now learn that even an instant of gravity’s absence can lead to the end of all life on Earth and severely hurting the Universe. This event consists of multiple laws of physics being broken and is worth writing in the logbook of the Universe.

References and Credits

1. What If. (2020, April 16). What If We Lost Gravity for 5 Seconds? – YouTube. Retrieved December 30, 2020, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kt6LfTtPPGU
2. Bright Side. (2020, October 1). What If Gravity Disappeared for 1 Second – YouTube. Retrieved December 30, 2020, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayWihztBs1U
3. Carson. (2020, August 21). Gravity – Central Galaxy. Retrieved December 30, 2020, from https://www.centralgalaxy.com/gravity/
4. Sarah Loff. (2019, April 10). Black Hole Image Makes History; NASA Telescopes Coordinate Observation. Retrieved December 30, 2020, from https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/chandra/news/black-hole-image-makes-history

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