| MadSci Network: Physics |
Hello, Marino! An individual graviton does not have any gravity. It is a massless particle that conducts gravity. Even the word "particle" is a little misleading. The correct term to describe gravitons is boson. A boson has an energy force, but no mass. Photons are another example of bosons. Since a graviton has no mass, it has no gravity. It simply carries the force of gravity between objects with mass. Like other bosons, gravitons probably behave somewhat like waves and somewhat like packets of energy. This is why the term "particle" is misleading. I like to think of gravitons as invisible ropes that tie two objects together. If you've ever taken a rope, laid it out straight, then whipped it, you know that the distance between the two ends of the rope shrinks as the waves in the rope get larger. The more energy you use to whip the rope, the bigger the waves in it, and the two ends of the rope move closer together. Think of gravity as the force that whips the rope. The closer two objects are together, the more gravitational force they have on each other. This makes the waves in the rope bigger, and the two objects are pulled together by the rope. The ropes, or gravitons, don't have any gravitational pull themselves. They are just the carrier of the gravity force. I hope this answers your question, Layne Johnson To learn more about gravitons and bosons and the sub-atomic world they call home, read the particle adventure. A map of what we know about the sub-atomic particle is called the standard model.
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