Why Don't We Fall Off the Earth?

Imagine the Earth is a giant magnet and you are a tiny paperclip. Even though the Earth is round like a ball, the magnet pulls everything toward its center. When you stand on the top of the ball, gravity pulls your feet down to the surface. When you walk to the bottom, it still pulls your feet toward the middle, so you never fall off!

People in Australia or New Zealand are technically upside down compared to people in Canada. Do they feel dizzy? No! That is because gravity pulls them "down" just as hard. The word "down" simply means toward the center of the Earth, no matter where you stand. So for a person in Brazil, their head points up into space and their feet point deep inside the planet.

Without gravity, we would float away like balloons released at a party. You have probably seen astronauts floating in space. They are not outside of Earth's gravity entirely, but they fall around it so fast that they keep missing the ground. On our surface, gravity is strong enough to hold down everything from ocean water to heavy buildings and even our own bodies.