What If Gravity Got Weaker Every Second?

What if gravity got weaker every second, and never stopped? Gravity drops 1.5% every second for 8 minutes 31 seconds, from normal Earth gravity to almost zero, and you weigh 36 grams by the end. This 3D simulation follows what happens to Singapore, Niagara Falls, a Hawaiian volcano, New York City, the Moon, the planet itself and the Sun. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN GRAVITY WEAKENS • Orbits break: the Moon, the space station and every satellite fly off in straight lines • The air thins, then water boils at body temperature, so the sea starts to boil at 82 °F • Jumps get higher, then they stop coming back down • The equator lets go when Earth's spin beats its gravity, at about 0.3% of normal • Earth sheds its equator into space, and the Sun, held together only by gravity, comes apart QUICK ANSWERS Q: What would happen if gravity got weaker? You weigh less, the air gets thinner because gravity is what holds it down, water boils at lower temperatures, and everything held in orbit by gravity stops being held. Q: How weak does gravity have to be before you float? On the equator, once gravity falls below the push from Earth's spin. The ground there already moves at 1,037 mph. At about 0.3% of normal gravity, nothing on the equator is held down. Q: Could a bullet escape Earth? Escape speed from Earth is about 25,000 mph and it shrinks as gravity weakens. Near the end, even a rifle bullet fired straight up would never come back. THE READOUT The numbers in the corner are gravity and your weight, from 180 lb down to 36 g. They are calculated, not guessed: Venus gravity (90% of Earth's) at about 7 seconds, Mars (38%) at about 1 minute, the Moon (17%) at about 2 minutes, Pluto (6%) at about 3. WHAT IS NOT REAL Gravity can't fade like this. The 1.5% per second was chosen so the story fits in a few minutes, space distances are not to scale, and the Sun would take hours to come apart, so that part is sped up. If you liked this, tell us in the comments which what-if to do next: gravity getting stronger, the Moon falling in, or the Sun going out.