Gravitational waves are sinusoidal, meaning they oscillate smoothly according to the y-coordinate of a rhythmic trace of a circle. These waves, called “sine” waves, are everywhere.
A gravity wave is a vertical wave. The best example I can think of in describing what a gravity wave looks like is to think of a rock being thrown into a pond. Ripples or circles migrate from the point the rock hits the water. An up and down motion is created.
Gravitational waves transport energy as gravitational radiation, a form of radiant energy similar to electromagnetic radiation.
In general, gravitational wave frequencies are much lower than those of the electromagnetic spectrum (a few thousand hertz at most, compared to some 1016 to 1019 Hz for X-rays). Consequently, they have much larger wavelengths – ranging from hundreds of kilometres to potentially the span of the Universe.
Whereas astrophysical electromagnetic waves are typically much smaller than their sources, ranging from a few kilometres down to sub-nuclear wavelengths, gravitational waves are larger than their sources, with wavelengths starting at a few kilometres and ranging up to the size of the Universe.
Quantum mechanics suggests everything is made of quanta, or packets of energy, that can behave like both a particle and a wave—for instance, quanta of light are called photons. Detecting gravitons, the hypothetical quanta of gravity, would prove gravity is quantum.
Before he worked out the general theory of relativity, Einstein had already deduced that gravity must affect a light wave's frequency and wavelength. Light moving upwards from Earth's surface, for example, shifts to longer wavelength and lower frequency, as gravity saps it of some energy.
And it is known that the downward axial force exerted by the gravitational force in a heavy long vertical column structure leads to a negative stiffness effect on a flexural bending motion and it shifts the natural frequencies[9, 10].
But unlike sound waves pond ripples, which spread out through a medium like watter, gravitational waves are vibrations in spacetime itself, which means they move just fine through the vacuum of space.
It is experimentally confirmed the existence of gravitational-electromagnetic resonance of the Earth (GERE) at a frequency of 67.6 GHz [10,11].
Gravity is a weak force, but has only one sign of charge. Electromagnetism is much stronger, but comes in two opposing signs of charge. This is the most significant difference between gravity and electromagnetism, and is the main reason why we perceive these two phenomena so differently.
In general, a gravitational wave is created any time a mass accelerates. Traveling along a circular path is only one type of acceleration. If an object with mass speeds up along a straight path, this is also a type of acceleration, and therefore it should create gravitational waves.
Gravity is a four billion times weaker than the electromagnetic force that drives electrons in circuits, and so has absolutely no effect on electricity.
Gravitational waves are 'ripples' in space-time caused by some of the most violent and energetic processes in the Universe. Albert Einstein predicted the existence of gravitational waves in 1916 in his general theory of relativity.
Bending waves
From that they worked out that gravity does move at the same speed as light. Their actual figure was 0.95 times light speed, but with a large error margin of plus or minus 0.25.
Earth's gravity comes from all its mass. All its mass makes a combined gravitational pull on all the mass in your body. That's what gives you weight. And if you were on a planet with less mass than Earth, you would weigh less than you do here.
If you follow Einstein's theory of general relativity then gravity has no direct effect on electromagnetic waves itself. Gravity however affects space time itself warping it towards the gravity source.
Gravitational waves distort spacetime: they change the distances between large, free objects.
Researchers studying an acoustic effect in high-powered light bulbs have developed a system that mimics the gravitational field around planets and stars [1]. The team demonstrated that sound waves in the bulb generate a force that pulls gas toward the bulb's center.
While it is true that photons have no mass, it is also true that we see light bend around sources with high mass due to gravity. This is not because the mass pulls on the photons directly, but instead because the mass warps the space-time through which the photons travel. Imagine a bowling ball on a mattress.
Gravitational time dilation occurs because objects with a lot of mass create a strong gravitational field. The gravitational field is really a curving of space and time. The stronger the gravity, the more spacetime curves, and the slower time itself proceeds.
There is only one type of gravity. There are no other types of gravity present in nature. This means there is only one type of gravitational force that pulls the two bodies together based on their masses and the distance between their centers. Gravity is a type of central force and is the weakest force known in nature.
We don't understand how to calculate gravity's behavior at high energies, at small scales, near singularities, or when quantum particles exhibit their inherently quantum nature. Similarly, we don't understand how the quantum field that underpins gravity — assuming there is one — behaves at all under any circumstances.
One theory, known as loop quantum gravity, aims to resolve the conflict between particles and space-time by breaking up space and time into little bits — an ultimate resolution beyond which no zooming can take place.
No. Again, gravity is just a force, so it just describes how objects interact. The energy that the ball displays as a falling motion came from my muscles when I hefted the bowling ball to the top of the hill, and not from gravity. Gravity just provides a way to temporarily store energy in an object.