[jcun4128]

I don't get in many depictions they show this planet/ball over a grid that's deforming downwards. I can understand how another mass would want to "fall" into that but is it actually that shape (has up/down) or it some kind of sphere. I also believe with regard to mass clumping, gravity is strongest near the surface of the Earth vs. inside where you could say it's equal/0 except the oblique part.

[ben_w]

The rubber sheet analogy is criticised for this exact reason. Here’s a different visualisation that starts with what’s wrong with the rubber sheet: https://youtu.be/wrwgIjBUYVc

[SavantIdiot]

That's a great video. 7:50 is the important twist for me, and 10:25 really drives it home. I'll never forget that video now and it explains so much.

THere's still one "flaw" with this video: explaining that the grid "moves" is a little confusing. It doesn't move per-se, it .. evolves? ... over time. That's weird. I keep wanting to think the curves are static, but from t0->tn the grid pinches up. Yes, that's why they call it spacetime, but I have to stop and reset myself because how can the grid keep pinching up indefinitely but it doesn't it is just a concept. That is a stumbling block. 35 years after my last physics class...lol.

[leephillips]

That’s the best visualization of gravitation I’ve ever seen. Well done. I recommend it to anyone who’s been misled by the ubiquitous rubber sheet picture.

[akomtu]

That's clever. I'd suggest an improvement. When a sat has initial speed, show its small local reference frame, so we'd see that it always moves forward in its own reference frame, but the frame happens to be pulled to Earth.

[rdtsc]

Great video. Another one I like is "Why Gravity is NOT a Force" from Veritasium https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRr1kaXKBsU

[drran]

It uses gravity force to demonstrate that gravity force is not a force. ;-)

[pomian]

That's an amazing little video. thanks for posting. (Maybe that should go on to the main page, at some point)

[jcun4128]

Oh yeah I can see the 3D sinking inwards

that's a neat video haven't seen that slicing idea before