...So Malcolm says......" You do know there is a difference between air and gravity? "
......errr...I do not know that your explanation made any clear reference to a definition between the two [/size][/font] (size corrected)- You do know there is a difference between air and gravity?"......errr...I do not know that your explanation made any clear reference to a definition between the two
Saying that you have a 250gm packet of salted vinegar chips in a cardboard box in a plastic bag in my left hand does not necessarily let me understand why the will fall to my toes if the both the packet & the bag are opened
Derek
All otherwise unsupported items that have mass are attracted to a nearby mass. The one that wins on this planet is the planet. Unsupported stuff will head for the planet core by the shortest route, i.e., down. As an experiment, if you let go the plastic bag containing the cardboard box it will exhibit the same behaviour, dropping floorwards. It isn't air pushing down, its gravity pulling. It also keeps the air in place, which is generally a good thing. The presence of air will actually slow down the rate of fall. I believe that something like this was demonstrated on the (actually visited) moon involving a feather and a hammer dropped by an astronaut, which both fell (under the influence of the Moon's gravity) to the Moon's surface simultaneously.
The original "Things Dropping" thing was noted by Isaac Newton, who went away and had a think about it before calling the effect "Gravity".
Of course, if it is an individually packaged Walkers crisp, in the presence of air, it might blow away before it get to floor level, but thats aerodynamics.