Gravity - pull or push?

[Juxal]

DD's teacher said that gravity pushes you down; dh and I think it pulls you down. Have things changed drastically in this field recently?

My DH agrees it is pull you down. It is the mass of the earth that causes gravity, the greater the mass the greater the gravity, so it is the mass of the earth that pulls you towards it.

Personally im not v good at physics but my instinct was that if it is some force pushing you down then there would also be gravity on teh moon as it must emmanate from some external source to push you.

I would have a word with the teacher. Im sure he/she has probably just used the terminology without thinking, however it is a teachers job to think and this is scientifically incorrect...all part of dumbing down!

Gravity pulls.

Gravity is a force of attraction between two objects, eg between you and the Earth. The Earth pulls on you and you pull on the Earth. Because the Earth is so much bigger than you, it wins.

Thank you, it's much as I thought. Her teacher has made a lot of errors of this nature and though he's very nice, is pretty crap at teaching. This was something he told them last term, and luckily dd is starting at a diff school tomorrow. YAY! We are so excited