tnf wrote:No, because there are still gravitational forces. They are cancelling each other out (in relation to the earth and the object), but the forces in any given direction still exist.
Perhaps we are splitting haris here - you mentioned zero gravity, someone else said "No gravity" - a difference, IMHO. For example, you could calculate the gravitational force in any given direction...and it would have the same force in the opposite direction, netting you zero overall...
Do you get what I am trying to say?
it depends on what you mean by "there are still gravitational forces".
From a vectorial analysis, we can talk about there being multiple forces that cancel each other out, but from an ontological view (that is, what is
really happening), I think that the configuration of matter (being in the centre of a sphere) actually means that there
is no gravity.
It's not as if there are multiple gravitational forces that exist and then cancel each other out. It is simply that there is no gravity to begin with. Gravity is a function of the configuration of matter around the point in question, and for calculation purposes, we can conveniently divide up reality as if there really
were all these interacting forces, but the fact of the matter is that there really
is no gravitational force there, since the configuration of matter doesn't allow there to be any.
but the forces in any given direction still exist.
This is the key mistake - there
are no forces in any given direction, unless you count a force of zero as being a force. See my reply to foo, where I mention the incorrect metaphor of a horse pulling strings attached to a person. Gravity is not like this.