This law applies to every individual on earth yet those who break it
have little chance of landing in jail.  What is the Law, where does it
originate, and what is it's official description?

Dear mvskeens-ga:

Thank you for allowing me an opportunity to answer your interesting
question.

Every individual on earth is bound by the law of gravity.

Those who violate the law of gravity have little chance of going to
jail unless of course you happen to steal an airplane or stow away on
the space shuttle. I suppose you might also get arrested for shooting
your little brother into the air with a catapult or a giant sling
shot, but in this case is it YOU that breaks the law of gravity or
HIM? Oh well, who knows? After all that "is" being a bit picky isn't
it?

The law originated with Sir Isaac Newton and it is officially called
"The
Universal Law of Gravitation".

SIR ISAAC NEWTON: THE UNIVERSAL LAW OF GRAVITATION
http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr161/lect/history/newtongrav.html

SIR ISAAC NEWTON
http://www-gap.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Newton.html

There may be other solutions to the riddle, but this defintely and
most assuredly answers the question accurately. Enjoy.

Below you will find that I have carefully defined my search strategy
for you in the event that you need to search for more information. By
following the same type of searches that I did you may be able to
enhance the research I have provided even further. I hope you find
that that my research exceeds your expectations. If you have any
questions about my research please post a clarification request prior
to rating the answer. Otherwise, I welcome your rating and your final
comments and I look forward to working with you again in the near
future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.

Regards;
tutuzdad-ga


INFORMATION SOURCE

DEFINED ABOVE



SEARCH ENGINE 

://www.google.com


SEARCH TERMS

"LAW OF GRAVITY"

"ISAAC NEWTON"

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Request for Answer Clarification by mvskeens-ga on 25 Sep 2003 14:27 PDT

Are you sure of this answer?  I would seem to me that while flying,
you are not breaking the law of gravity, you are merely stretching it.

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Clarification of Answer by tutuzdad-ga on 25 Sep 2003 14:56 PDT

The laws of physics are set. Like many laws of physics however they
can obviously be circumvented (like riding in an airplane and going up
in the espace shuttle). The laws of gravity are still present but the
forward motion or upward thrust makes it SEEM as if gravity is no
longer pulling on you.

The law of gravity says (basically) that what goes up must come down.
ALL things must adhere to The Universal Law of Gravity (Yes, I am
sure). Obviously the law can be circumvented, for example, when I toss
you and orange while you are in a tree. I threw it up, but it does not
come down because you caught it and stopped it.

I admit, some of my answer was more humorous than anything else, but
the point remains the same. YES - I am certain - the law of gravity
applies to every individual and every THING on earth NO MATTER WHAT
HE, OR IT IS DOING.

In addition, my good friend and lovely collegue Pinkfreud pointed out
this recent thread in which this very riddle is being discussed. I
hope it enlightens you as well.

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=lang_en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&newwindow=1&safe=off&th=7008c9109d68dcb8&rnum=1

Regards;
tutuzdad-ga

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Request for Answer Clarification by mvskeens-ga on 25 Sep 2003 15:33 PDT

Yes, I understand that your technique is sound however, I think the
key is to focus on laws that are unique to earth, universal laws.

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Request for Answer Clarification by mvskeens-ga on 25 Sep 2003 15:34 PDT

That should be "not universal laws".

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Clarification of Answer by tutuzdad-ga on 25 Sep 2003 16:38 PDT

Gravity is obviously an earthly law of physics since gravity as we
know it at least does not exists elsewhere. The term "universal" is
not intended to imply "the cosmos" but merely refers to the fact that
the law is applicable or common to all purposes, conditions, or
situations [on earth] in much the same way you might refer to a
"universal currency converter" - which converts all forms of currency
on the earth to other forms of currency on the earth. To suggest a
farther reaching "currency converter", for example, would be
ridiculous since there are no other forms of currency on other planets
(as best we know).

Our scope of practical understanding is almost always assumed to be
limited to earth; to that which we KNOW and can make ready
comparisions. So, when one says "universal" he is referring to his
limited universe - the earth - that which we KNOWS and can make ready
comparisions. Sir Isaac Newton's universal law is no diferent in that
regard.

As I said, the universal law of gravitation does indeed apply to all
things on earth, just as your original question inquired. I don't
think anyone could accurately argue that fact.

I hope this serves to clarify my answer.

Regards;
tutuzdad-ga

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Clarification of Answer by tutuzdad-ga on 26 Sep 2003 06:43 PDT

And thank YOU very much for your generosity. The pleasure has been mine.

regards;
tutuzdad-ga

Thank you for your time and effort on this question

mvskeens,

I would like to take a stab at this, since your wording of your
questions sounded very similar to a question put forth by Daniel Quinn
in "The Story of B".  The answer is "the law of limited competition
which boiled down is:
"You may compete to the full extent of your capabilities, but you may
not hunt down competitors or destroy their food or deny them access to
food. In other words, you may compete but you may not wage war."  That
is a very simplified version of it.  It does not deny that conflict
for food and territory do, will, and must happen, such as the brutal
battles over land and game waged by lions and hyenas.  However, it
states that the way in which most humans presently try to preserve
only those organisims we see as "good" (corn, cows, ect), but crusade
to wipe out those we see as "bad" or "useless" (coyotes, swamp
vegetation, ect) is a sure way to disaster.  According to this law,
you may kill the coyote that is stealing the sheep you had planned to
eat for dinner, but you may not seek the destruction of all coyotes.
If this is the answer to your question, I am pleased to meet a fellow
Ishmaelite.  If not, I will be currious to see what the answer you had
in mind was.

I happen to know that this question is from a local radio station
contest in Chicago.  Having listend to other responses I believe this
answer has been tried already.  I think the researcher, who is one of
the best, has answered the question sufficiently, but I think it would
benefit the asker if other possibilities were presented.  I cannot
remember the other wrong answers given on the radio show but some
were:

1) Murphy's Law
2) Newton's Laws of Motion


I hope this helps!

Bowler-ga

I wonder if it might be the so-called "Law of Averages," which is
broken (in a sense) every time someone wins big at the gaming tables.

Now come on, if someone killed all the coyotes (as in your story) then
that person would stand a great chance of landing in jail.

Somebody tried the Murphy's Law answer (again) today and the hosts of
the show indicated in no uncertain terms that it was not the right
answer.