Electromagnetism is way more powerful than gravity....at short range. Over the long haul, gravity reigns.
No, EM is a waaay more powerful force than gravity, and obeys the same inverse square law as gravity. The effects of a nearby super nova on our planet are not going to be in any way connected with the gravity of the situation, but the EM radiation. Can you understand why?
In the long haul, gravity from distant bodies does not influence us in any meaningful way, unlike the EM radiation, which is a real issue. EM from distant bodies is influencing us at every moment. Because of our protective atmosphere, and magnetosphere, we don't suffer much from the extremely powerful EM radiation that bathes every bit of the planet, all the time. This doesn't mean it isn't there.
To make this obvious, on a space flight to the moon, or to mars, anywhere really outside the protection of our planet, nobody is worried about the effect of gravity, either from the sun or distant stars, but we know that the EM radiation is a serious issue. The EM from the sun, as well as Cosmic Rays, from very distant bodies, is a real and ever present danger. Even just being on the ISS greatly increases the exposure to radiation, and also the risk of cataracts.
The gravity from distant bodies isn't even considered, for all practical purposes, it doesn't matter. Nobody worries about the Sun's gravitational energy in orbit. The EM is another matter.
Over the long haul, gravity reigns.
I have no idea what that means. There is no contest between fundamental forces. To try and make this clear, simply reverse the claim, (which is also going to seem dumb).
Over the long haul, EM reigns. Which is why Maxwell's equations, rather than Newton's Laws, explain why the sun radiates energy.
See? What does that even mean?
Even at extreme close range, where gravity is very powerful, EM doesn't seem to care. Sunspots don't act the way they do because of gravity, not do charged particles and EM radiating from the sun. Which is kind of cool, really. Gravity doesn't effect EM, and EM doesn't effect gravity. (Or so says current theory.)
(Yeah, I know, but the bending of EM near gravity sources is considered a warping of space time, gravity doesn't slow or really "bend" EM radiation, it just seems like it, because of the warped spacetime)
I think the reason otherwise intelligent people consider the force of gravity more "powerful" than the electromagnetic force, is because somehow they forget what EM is, what the electromagnetic field is, what it means.
What we call "light" is actually a propagating oscillatory disturbance in the electromagnetic field, or in other words, an electromagnetic wave. Electromagnetic radiation, that force that some think gravity trumps, is everything from radio waves to visible light to gamma rays. Even atoms and molecules are dominated by the EM force.
Of course the whole idea that gravity
trumps or EM
trumps is a bit absurd. But interesting. Practically all the phenomena we encounter in daily life is due to the electromagnetic force, except for gravity.
And the two don't effect each other much at all. Now that I think about it, that is rather strange really. The two most important, ever present forces that effect everything, don't effect each other. How can that be?
