Ok, I think I have found a gravity that would work.

Yeah.  Actually, there's an experiment that will tell whether we're accelerating or whether we have "real" gravity...

They explained that by saying it was the effect of the sun's gravity pulling the object up very slightly... :roll:

They explained that by saying it was the effect of the sun's gravity pulling the object up very slightly... :roll:

Fine; do it at different times of day/night, so that sometimes the sun pulls from the "left", sometimes from the "right", and sometimes from directly above.  If the results don't change, it can't be the sun's pull, which sun will be at different distances from the measurer.

This is assuming that the resulting measurements even fit Newton's formula for gravity from the sun, which I'll assume it doesn't (being nonlinear, I doubt you'd get the same prediction for the sun-as-gravity-source and Earth-as-gravity-source) until the objecting FEers in question demonstrate otherwise.  Get a-demonstrating, fellas.

-Erasmus

Wait...so the sun generates gravity, but the earth doesn't?  Are they contending that the earth doesn't have sufficient mass to do so?  Although I don't feel like crunching the numbers right now, I'm fairly sure that if we assume the earth's crust is 40 km thick (http://www.theflatearthsociety.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1134), with magma below that, it would have enough mass to affect gravity in a non-negligible way, and then wouldn't we be pulled towards the center of the mass?  In some cases, at awkward angles?

Or do they have another proposed mechanism for gravity?

From the FAQ (which I compiled, so it's accurate  :wink:    )

Q: "Why does gravity vary with altitiude?"

A: "First, the earth generates no gravity. The reason you hit the ground again is the earth catches up to you. Now, the moon and stars have gravity. As you get closer to them, they exert a pull upon you. Very slight, but more the closer you get."

Not sure how they'd explain the changes between day and night. Although, if the Sun and Moon are the same mass, then wouldn't the centre of gravity be between them? So wouldn't we be pulled upwards towards the north pole slightly?

Thanks for that cheesejoff, but my question was more "why doesn't the earth generate gravity?" than "why does gravity vary with altitude?".  Essentially, I'm worndering how they reached the (seemingly impossible) conclusion that the earth, while having mass, does not exert a gravitational force, wheras the sun and moon (which they're assuming are smaller than we claim them to be) do.

Hm...alright, here's a good one I thought up.

The Earth produces gravity. Above the Earth there is field of matter which produces the same gravity as the Earth. This nullifies the Earth's gravity and explains why gravity is weaker further away from the Earth.

Both the field and the Earth are travelling upwards at 1G (being pushed by dark energy, of course) which explains why you appear to be pulled down towards the Earth.

The only problem is that the field needs the same mass as the Earth, so it's either the same density and area as the Earth, in which case it must be invisible, or it's extremely high density and extrememly low area, eg, a kind of black hole...

The Earth produces gravity. Above the Earth there is field of matter which produces the same gravity as the Earth. This nullifies the Earth's gravity and explains why gravity is weaker further away from the Earth.

Not bad, but what shape does this field take?  You've got to take into account the weird shape of the flat Earth's gravitational field, and nullify it exactly.

Also, it still doesn't answer the question of why the sun and moon stay in orbit around the Earth.

-Erasmus

Not bad, but what shape does this field take?  You've got to take into account the weird shape of the flat Earth's gravitational field, and nullify it exactly.

Hm...if the centre of the fields gravity was over the North pole, we'd be pulled slightly towards the N.P. So there must be a ring of matter around the Earth which pulls us away from the Earth.

Either that or it's shaped like a dome, perhaps?

Also, it still doesn't answer the question of why the sun and moon stay in orbit around the Earth.

The sun and moon could orbit around the centre of the fields gravity, if they orbit over the equator.

If it's the dome model, then it could orbit around the dome and the earth, perhaps?

Quote from: "Erasmus"

Not bad, but what shape does this field take?  You've got to take into account the weird shape of the flat Earth's gravitational field, and nullify it exactly.

Hm...if the centre of the fields gravity was over the North pole, we'd be pulled slightly towards the N.P. So there must be a ring of matter around the Earth which pulls us away from the Earth.

Either that or it's shaped like a dome, perhaps?

Quote from: "Erasmus"

Also, it still doesn't answer the question of why the sun and moon stay in orbit around the Earth.

The sun and moon could orbit around the centre of the fields gravity, if they orbit over the equator.

If it's the dome model, then it could orbit around the dome and the earth, perhaps?

The center of mass of a ring is still in the center of the ring, as in it is not part of the ring, it is in the "hole" You would still be sucked to the hole.

Quote from: "cheesejoff"

Quote from: "Erasmus"

Not bad, but what shape does this field take?  You've got to take into account the weird shape of the flat Earth's gravitational field, and nullify it exactly.

Hm...if the centre of the fields gravity was over the North pole, we'd be pulled slightly towards the N.P. So there must be a ring of matter around the Earth which pulls us away from the Earth.

Either that or it's shaped like a dome, perhaps?

Quote from: "Erasmus"

Also, it still doesn't answer the question of why the sun and moon stay in orbit around the Earth.

The sun and moon could orbit around the centre of the fields gravity, if they orbit over the equator.

If it's the dome model, then it could orbit around the dome and the earth, perhaps?

The center of mass of a ring is still in the center of the ring, as in it is not part of the ring, it is in the "hole" You would still be sucked to the hole.

What exactly is this in response to?