[leon]

Now say I had a magic box that could 'turn down' the earth's gravity. I throw the ball as before. Then while it's in flight, I turn the earth's gravity down. That same ball with the same momentum sails high into the sky. If I turn it down again it *seems to accelerate until it leaves the gravitational pull of the earth altogether. *Seems to, only it's just the gravity of the earth that is being reduced.

There is you answer

Leon