A GRAVE TOPIC
Yesterday, we ventured into the gloom that has been the Treasure Valley for the past 4 days (dense fog for 2 days, just cloudy for 2 more). It had to happen, we had no bread. As I zipped up coats and buckled seat belts, Jared asked me how gravity can work.
Now, I'm know for over-complexifying things, and starting too far back in the explanation, but how do you really explain gravity without explaining mass? I don't know how.
So we talked about how big things are vs. how heavy they are. A cardboard box and a rock of the same size don't weigh the same amount.
Then we talked about how the Earth is bigger than the Moon, so it has more gravity, so it pulls you harder toward the middle of the Earth. I asked him if he were standing on the bathroom scale on the moon, would he weight more, or less than on Earth? He got it right. And he told me that you can jump really high on the moon, too. He did, however, think that people probably fell off the bottom of the Earth. Strike one.
Then he asked why the Moon doesn't just crash into the Earth if gravity is pulling it. Hmmm...I think I fudged that answer, 'cause I'm not sure I know. Then to distract him, I asked him if the sun had gravity, and I could almost see the light bulb appear over his head. "So the Sun is like the Earth, and the Earth is like the Moon! And that's why the Earth goes around the Sun!" If you didn't follow that, he'd replaced the Earth-Moon relationship with the Sun-Earth relationship. All on his own.

Is anyone else FREAKED out? No? Just me? Okay.

What I want to known is why he understands the Law of Gravity, but just can't seem to grasp the "Pick Up Your Toys" Theorum....