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In this picture we have slightly enlarged the Himalayas.
Let’s imagine that I have climbed up to the very top,
I have taken many of these bottles of water with me, and now I start to throw them down.
So if I let this bottle go here, well, then it falls down
because the Earth attracts it, and so it has to fall downwards.
If the Earth was not here and I would throw, then it wouldn’t start wobbling all over, it would fly straight, maintaining its starting speed.
So if I put the Earth back underneath, imagine that I have thrown it so it starts to fly in a straight line.
Okay but then it remembers gravity and it says, oh wait I have to fall a little here.
Since the Earth is under it it has to fall, but because I gave it momentum it also goes forward.
So it goes forward then it falls, goes forward then it falls but it does not do it in a stepwise manner, it does both movements simultaneously.
Of course if I throw it with a bigger velocity then it goes farther before before hitting the ground.
So let’s throw stuff from the Himalayas, I have taken many of these bottles and I first throw one down with a fairly small speed.
This one falls down somewhere near, like in China.
The next one I throw with a bigger speed that hits Russia, they think it’s a surprise pack from China.
The next one with an even greater speed I can throw even home to Hungary,
that’s nothing for me „I have the power I have the might / I only drink milk pasteurized” - although I prefer goat’s milk.
So I eat a bit of „Bajai töpörtyű” I get even more stronger, now I can throw even farther,
then I gobble up half a pig then I get really strong.
So then I could throw it to the other side of the planet, but if I throw it fast enough then it will fall around the world.
This is the actual phrase for it – it falls around the world - .
May I ask the young man there to help me out a bit, I need his head, mine is not enough.
So now his head is Earth. Look this way and stand still. We know the Earth is moving, especially since Galilei, but now don’t move.
Now I will show it in the other direction. With little speed it falls down nearby, with larger speeds it goes farther, with even greater speed even farther,
and soon it falls around the world, it has become an artificial moon of our planet.
Now I am going to ask a tricky question: does it fall in the meantime towards Earth?
You don’t have to answer out loud, think about it. Some fall into the trap thinking that it is always at the same height so it cannot be falling.
But ladies and gents, is the Earth under it? It is. Does it attract it? It does.
Gravity works, it has to fall towards. Remember when I showed the water bottle as it went sideways then down and of course did that simultaneously.
Thank you young man, you have a great head.
It falls around the world. This is the precise term as it is constantly falling towards the ground.
If you have understood this then you have understood how satellites, space ships, space stations and shuttles work, plantes and moons do the same.
Lets imagine that the Moon is here and Earth is here.
If we just let the Moon go, it would sipmly fall towards Earth, and Earth would slightly fall toward the Moon as well, but to a smaller extent.
If there was no gravity then the Moon would just go so far away that after a while we would not be able to see it anymore.
The Moon makes to types of motion at the same time. It goes forward and it falls down, goes forward and falls down, and so on,
and in nearly a month’s time it falls around Earth.