Earth's gravity effectively approaches zero only at an infinite distance from the planet.
While it's tempting to think there's a specific altitude where gravity disappears, the reality is that gravity's influence extends infinitely. It weakens with distance, but never truly reaches zero.
Here's a breakdown:
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Inverse Square Law: Gravity follows an inverse square law. This means that the force of gravity is inversely proportional to the square of the distance from the center of the Earth. As the distance increases, the force of gravity decreases rapidly, but it never quite reaches zero.
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Practical Considerations: In practical terms, the gravitational influence of Earth becomes negligible at very great distances compared to other celestial bodies. This means that at some point, the gravitational pull of the Sun, Moon, or other planets would become more significant than Earth's. However, Earth's gravity is still present.
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Interstellar Space: Even in interstellar space, far beyond the reach of our solar system, the gravitational effects of objects like Earth, though infinitesimally small, are still theoretically present.
Therefore, the statement that gravity is zero only at infinity is accurate.
