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Benjamin Torrence

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Is gravity a result of mass or size?

Hi all. I was hoping someone could explain something for me:

When I was in highschool, we were taught that gravitational force was a result of ridiculous amounts of mass. Like the sun. That high mass meant higher gravitational pull.

But then, I started learning about space time (which I don't fully grasp yet, to be honest)... I learned that gravity is a function of curves or dips in the surface of space time, and that objects in a gravitational field are really just circling around the toilet bowl of a very large piece of whatever.

The issue is, wouldn't that mean that gravity is a result of SIZE (as in, how great a dip it makes in space-time) as opposed to MASS?

Any resources to help me understand would be GREATLY appreciated.

Topics: gravity
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    Emery Scholder

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    Aug 21 2011: Dude, the mass of the object is what makes the size of the dip in spacetime.
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      Kristofer Björnson 10+

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      Aug 21 2011: This is the correct answer. The mass (or energy) is what determines how much space-time is bent. The gravitational pull is proportional to the curvature, but the curvature is determined by the amount of mass (energy).

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