# Gravity Beam **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 22, 2021, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gravity-beam/951125 "2021-09-22T16:35:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2021, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gravity-beam/951125/21 "2021-09-23T23:57:08Z")
Just because this is fun, I’ll note that the gravity near the surface of the cylinder and near the middle would be unusual; it would drop off as 1/r instead of 1/r2 (since the cylinder isn’t of infinite length, at some point this effect would fade and the usual 1/r2 dropoff would return - but still interesting). ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2021, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gravity-beam/951125/22 "2021-09-24T23:37:31Z")
This sounds like a really bulky method of making a tractor beam. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2021, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gravity-beam/951125/23 "2021-09-28T00:43:51Z")
Ok, so we are all disappointed that we don’t get a massive gravity pull at the end. ☹ But I still think we can get some over the top forces if we do a new experiment. Suppose I sliced the cylinder at the mid point, slipped a penny in between the two halves and then let them come back together. How much pressure would such a penny be under, having the equivalent of a 3 billion mile high mountain on either side of it. Would it be enough to force atoms of the penny into an interesting form of matter? (e.g. neutron or dwarf star?). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gravity-beam/951125.md?page=1)