Comparison between gravitational and electromagnetic forcesThe gravitational attraction of protons is approximately a factor 1036 weaker than the electromagnetic repulsion. This factor is independent of distance, because both forces are inversely proportional to the square of the distance. Therefore on an atomic scale mutual gravity is negligible. However, the main force beween common objects and the earth and between celestial bodies is gravity; this is due to the fact that they (at least one of the two) are electrically neutral to a high degree: even if in both bodies there were a surplus or deficit of only one electron for every 1018 protons and neutrons this would already be enough to cancel gravity (or in the case of a surplus in one and a deficit in the other: double the attraction).
The relative weakness of gravity can be demonstrated with a small magnet picking up pieces of iron. The small magnet is able to overwhelm the gravitational force of the entire earth.
Gravity is small unless at least one of the two bodies is large, but the small gravitational force exerted by bodies of ordinary size can fairly easily be detected through experiments such as the Cavendish torsion bar experiment.
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