What happens if there is no gravitational force

Gravity is one of those things we take completely for granted. And there are two things about it that we take for granted: the fact that it is always there, and the fact that it never changes. If the Earth's gravity were ever to change significantly, it would have a huge effect on nearly everything because so many things are designed around the current state of gravity. Before looking at changes in gravity however, it is helpful to first understand what gravity is.

Gravity is an attractive force between any two atoms. Let's say you take two golf balls and place them on a table. There will be an incredibly slight gravitational attraction between the atoms in those two golf balls. If you use two massive pieces of lead and some amazingly precise instruments, you can actually measure an infinitesimal attraction between them.

It is only when you get an gigantic number of atoms together, as in the case of the planet Earth, that the force of gravitational attraction is significant. The reason why gravity on Earth never changes is because the mass of the Earth never changes. The only way to suddenly change the gravity on Earth would be to change the mass of the planet.

A change in mass great enough to result in a change in gravity isn't going to happen anytime soon. But let's ignore the physics and imagine that, one day, the planet's gravity turned off, and suddenly there was no force of gravity on planet Earth. This would turn out to be a pretty bad day. We depend on gravity to hold so many things down -- cars , people, furniture, pencils and papers on your desk, and so on.

Fun fact: Humans have more than five senses. One of the most important ones — and one that we tend to take for granted — is our vestibular sense, which is what helps us tell up from down and prevents us from falling over. This internal sense of balance is what allows people to ride bikes, walk along a straight line, stand on one foot, or move their heads and limbs without getting disoriented. Nature explains that all of this is made possible by the intricate system in every person's inner ear that keeps track of the body's movement, the different directions and how they relate to the person's current position, and other aspects that play a role in making sure the person doesn't become a disoriented, headache-plagued heap on the ground.

And as you've probably guessed by now, gravity has a lot to do with it. Admittedly, the balance-setting organs in the ear the otoliths and semicircular canals technically aren't necessary for a human being to survive. However, taking them away would bring tremendous suffering.

Or, as Wired succinctly puts it: "Imagine a gently oscillating, nausea-inducing scene from which there is no escape. That's what it feels like when the organs of the inner ear malfunction. According to the What If Show , a human heart pumps approximately 2, gallons of blood on a daily basis. This organ's critical role in keeping you alive is possible only because of gravity: As your body has gotten used to living on Earth for pretty much your entire life, the amount of effort your heart exerts takes gravitational force into consideration.

Suddenly removing gravity from the equation would cut off blood from vital parts of your body, including your extremities and your digestive system.

Nature explains that sudden disappearance would also drastically affect your blood pressure. Normally, the brain bears about 60 to 80 mm Hg millimeters of mercury worth of pressure, while the feet, which bear your entire body weight, reaches up to mm Hg.

This ideal balance in our blood pressure is possible to maintain because gravity keeps it that way. Here's what would happen if gravity suddenly disappeared: Your blood pressure would become about mg Hg across your body, and its effects would quickly manifest: Your face would swell with fluid as your legs get drained, your eyesight would be tremendously diminished, your blood vessels would rupture, and you might even suffer a stroke that could leave you with permanent brain damage.

Per Wired , your red blood cell count would fall. A low red blood count, generally known as anemia, leads to possible oxygen deficiency, a longer recovery time for injuries, and a severely compromised immune system via Medical News Today.

Despite the endless hours scientists have devoted to studying it, there's still no conclusive answer as to exactly why humans need sleep to survive. What experts do know, however, is that gravity has a strong connection to sleep patterns and the quality of sleep a person gets — and without it, both of those would be greatly impaired. As The Conversation reports, astronauts rarely get some decent shuteye when they're off-world.

This is especially the case during long-term spaceflight, in which the astronauts are subjected to a long period of low gravity. Even the seemingly simple act of lying down becomes a Herculean feat for them because, well, how exactly do you lie down in a setting where there is no "up" or "down? Plus, because there's no gravity to hold them down while they try to sleep, tightly secured sleeping bags are a must.

Additionally, even if you manage to fall asleep, it's unlikely that you'll get enough. A study concluded that since gravity affects the human body during a person's waking hours, it is partly responsible for sleep. According to Biology Online , this is only achievable when a body is lying down properly. Interestingly, this is true not just for humans but for horses and elephants, too.

Perhaps the most obvious effect of the sudden disappearance of gravity is that nothing would stay in place.

You might even be picturing it as everything gently drifting off into the sky, as if fairies had sprinkled pixie dust all over the planet, or something. However, the reality of what would happen is far from the scenario you're probably imagining: It's a lot more chaotic, somewhat comical, and unexpectedly violent.

As HowStuffWorks explains, gravity is the reason why your car, the stuff inside your office, and even your parents and siblings manage to stay on the ground. The gravitational pull of the Earth keeps us on its surface, and makes objects fall towards it — like an apple falling from a tree. The way gravity works is that it pulls at space, not at you. This creates a shape a bit like a bowl, meaning things would naturally roll towards the middle, where the object with mass is.

Read more: Curious Kids: how high could I jump on the moon? We would find it easier to lift things. Instead of one heavy suitcase, you could now carry two. Things would seem lighter, and lighter things are moved more easily. You would need less force or energy to get a plane to reach the speed needed to take off.

And gravity never goes completely away. When you get very close to some other large body; the moon, Mars, or the sun; its gravity dominates over that of the earth. Only then can you neglect earth's gravity. Because gravity is everywhere in space, objects in space are always falling: towards the earth, towards the sun, and towards the galactic center. There are two reasons that objects seem to be floating without gravity in space when they are really falling.

First, space is very large and relatively empty by earth standards. When you jump off a bridge, you know you are falling because you feel the air whooshing up, see the mountains shooting up, see the water fast approaching, and then feel yourself hit the water.

Because space is relatively empty, there is little air to feel whooshing past you as you fall and there are no landmarks to indicate you are moving. Because space is so large, it takes you from hours to years of falling through space until you actually hit the surface of a planet assuming you have aimed properly so that you actually do hit , instead of the seconds it takes jumping off a bridge.