Why is gravity weaker than the other fundamental forces?
Quick Answer
Gravity is vastly weaker because it couples to mass-energy much more weakly than electromagnetism, the strong force, or the weak force. At everyday distances it dominates only because all mass attracts, while the other forces usually cancel out or act over much shorter ranges.
The Full Story
Gravity is the weakest of the four known fundamental forces by far. Between two protons, the electromagnetic repulsion is about 10^36 times stronger than their gravitational attraction. Physicists describe gravity with general relativity, but unlike the other forces it does not yet fit neatly into a quantum theory, which is one reason its underlying weakness remains an open question. Even so, gravity becomes the dominant force on cosmic scales because it is always attractive and acts over infinite distance.
Key Facts
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"Why is the weakest force the one that shapes the Universe?"
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