In article <Ra2dnZEMCNFnFlranZ2dnUVZ_sWdnZ2d@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>,
max@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
(Erik Max Francis) says...
> What you are suggesting would literally be equivalent to insisting that
> as objects fall to Earth, Earth loses mass, which is preposterous.
When objects fall, the gravitational field loses energy, which is
transferred to the object. Where did you think the energy came from?
"Potential energy" is just another term for storing energy in the field.
It's counter-intuitive, but when a gravitational field loses energy, it
actually becomes more intense. Consider two planets colliding. The
collision releases a lot of energy, most of which comes from
gravitation, and the resultant gravitational field is much more
powerful. Gravitational fields are negative energy. The more energy
you extract, the stronger they become.
--
For email, replace firstnamelastinitial
with my first name and last initial.
|
