lellololes t1_j24r4q6 wrote on December 29, 2022 at 5:32 PM

Reply to comment by IsraelZulu in A *dumb* question, for a mixup by Independent-Choice-4

No, they are saying that the baseball is too small for the baseball's gravity to be relevant here.

IsraelZulu t1_j24rn6d wrote on December 29, 2022 at 5:35 PM

I fail to see how that had anything to do with my question then.

lellololes t1_j24tggk wrote on December 29, 2022 at 5:47 PM

I was clarifying what they were saying. That's all.

Given the distance earth is from the moon, the gravity it imparts on a small mass like a baseball is also going to be a rounding error on a rounding error. It isn't nothing but it may as well be.

What they are saying is that if you have an object that is big enough to impart some gravitational pull it would then start affecting escape velocity for that object. E.g. The escape velocity of Phobos is 25 miles per hour or something like that ( it's big enough to have some gravitational effect). The escape velocity of Phobos from the surface of the moon would likely be a bit different than that of a baseball.

It all fits together, I don't think they misunderstood you.