One of the most central ideas supporting the Astro Atomic Model is the concept of gravity, and the gravitational constant, G. In the AAM, there is no concept of electric charge. Elementary particles do not possess an internal property of charge, either positive or negative. Thus, there is no repulsive forces between elementary particles. There is however, attractive forces between elementary particles, and the source of this force is the same force that we distinguish as gravity.

According to popular beliefs on gravity, this force would not be nearly strong enough to account for the measured attraction of elementary particles, specifically, with the accepted value of G, where the force of attraction is \(F=\frac{G m_1 m_2}{r^2}\). Given this formula, the ratio of the force of electric charge to that of gravity is \(10^{42}\) to 1. This, incidentally, and with coincidence, is the same ratio of the radius of the sun to the radius of a proton.

In the AAM, gravity is modeled after the pushing gravity theory, or Le Sage's theory of gravitation. Just as the aether particles supply the pushing mechanism for the gravitational attraction of the planets, the aether particles of elementary particles, which we call aether_-1 particles, are responsible for the attraction of the elementary particles.

The attractive force of elementary particles due to the aether_-1 particles is what causes the attraction force between protons and electrons, as well as between other elementary particles which are known to have opposite charges. The apparent repulsion between those particles which are thought to have the same electric charge, is caused by the ricochet affect of the attractive force between the particles. The ricochet effect makes it seem like particles are pushed away from each other, or that light weight particles are pushed away from heavier particles which are thought to have the same charge. This is actually a misconception, however, since the slingshot effect would give the same results in the experiments conducted on the particles.

If we use Rutherford's Gold Foil Experiment as a prime example, it can be seen that the seemingly repulsive force of electric charge between the particles which cause the deflection of ions passing through the gold foil is actually an attractive force between the particles, in which the slingshot effect causes the deflection. For most of the ions directed at the gold foil, they pass through the foil far enough from the gold nuclei that they are unaffected by any force between them, and are not deflected from their strait path. But, if an ion passes close to a gold nucleus, it will be attracted towards that nucleus, and 'swing around' the nucleus and is deflected from it's current path. The amount of deflection is determined by how close the ion passes close to a gold nucleus. If it passes very close to a nucleus, it could get caught up in the gravitational attraction of the nucleus and sweep around the nucleus and get shot back in almost the same direction that it came from, as experimental results show.

The results of the gold foil experiment can be explained by both the electric charge or by the gravitational attraction between the particles, with a major difference. In the first explanation, if an ion were to have a direct hit on a gold nucleus, it would cause the ion to return back in roughly the same direction it came from. In the second explanation, in the AAM, it could crash into one of the heavier particles within the nucleus. In the second, AAM, explanation, there would be a greater proportion of instances which a collision takes place than in the first explanation.

Another possible outcome for the gold foil experiment, as explained by the gravitational attractions of the particles, is if the ions were shot out more slowly from the source, which would make it possible for the ion to be caught up in the gravitational field of a gold nucleus, at least for a time, and possibly be ejected out again at a later time, which would most likely be only a split second.

If experiments were to be pursued again in this area, but this time keeping an open mind to the possibility of the reason for the deflections and other outcomes, we might determine that it is more likely that there is only attractive forces between the alpha particle and gold nuclei, rather than repulsive forces, which may dispel the accepted theory of electric charge.