My first thought was that I would definitely avoid getting on the scale. Beyond that, I've never really thought about it. I've read some science fiction stories that involved people genetically engineered for life on high gravity worlds. The people always had denser bones and muscles. It's an interesting question.

Miss Kelly

 

Arewn't we doing that already?

What happens to gravity when we take a chunk of heavy stuff (like metal) and put it in orbit?

Yes, but we're fighting a losing battle, since something like 100 tons of spacedust are falling to Earth every day!

 

Yes, but we're fighting a losing battle, since something like 100 tons of spacedust are falling to Earth every day!

And losing something like twice that to space between hydrogen and helium getting stripped away.

 

And losing something like twice that to space between hydrogen and helium getting stripped away.

Loss of H and He decreases the earth's total gravity in respect to pull on the moon (or far away objects), but it won't equate the the same effect at the earth's surface because some of that mass of H and He is above us.

 

Loss of H and He decreases the earth's total gravity in respect to pull on the moon (or far away objects), but it won't equate the the same effect at the earth's surface because some of that mass of H and He is above us.

Your forgetting that the H and He haven't been just sitting up there for a few billion years waiting to drift off. Instead, they are produced predominantly by surface and subsurface processes and released into the atmosphere at which point it doesn't take long for them to bleed off to space. An example would be helium that is trapped in natural gas deposits and is vented as the natural gas is extracted.

 

A first pass calculation suggests the earth should collapse under its own weight given the current mass/gravity - try it...

 

Your forgetting that the H and He haven't been just sitting up there for a few billion years waiting to drift off. Instead, they are produced predominantly by surface and subsurface processes and released into the atmosphere at which point it doesn't take long for them to bleed off to space. An example would be helium that is trapped in natural gas deposits and is vented as the natural gas is extracted.

Good point.