I was wondering if a bullet or any small object thrown really close, but not directly at an object with a huge mass would sway the bullet or small mass towards its orbital direction, since everything has a small gravity to it, but it is usually negligible.

I was wondering if it were possible to make a noticeable change in trajectory for said small object.

Unless one of the objects has a very high mass, such as a small planet, you won't notice any effect. If that wasn't the case, NASA wouldn't be so concerned about losing tools and parts while working on the ISS. The parts would simply "fall" to the station to be recovered.

It happens all the time. Really small objects (dust and meteorites) approach a really huge object (Earth) and are curved around or into it.

Any small object will be attracted toward the nearest large object; Gravity is everywhere. Objects in orbit will tend to stay in orbit, but, the orbit will be altered and if the object isn't going fast enough, it wall fall toward the large mass just as bd says.

Gravity is the curvature of space-time around an object having mass. The greater the mass and the smaller the volume in which that mass is contained, the greater the curvature of space-time around that object.

ALL objects having mass curve space-time to some degree, even individual atoms, electrons, etc. The curvature may be very tiny, in which case, you'd need very precise instruments to measure the deflection as object "A" passes near object "B", where both have a negligible mass, or the object may be very large, in which case, the deflection is painfully obvious. The objects in question are travelling straight lines through curved space, and the attraction is mutual, regardless of the respective mass of the objects in question. Just as tiny meteoroids are deflected from their nominal trajectory by Earth's gravity, so Earth is attracted to the tiny meteoroids in turn, only by a MUCH smaller, but still finite and measurable, amount.

Well, I know that much, but my question was if it were possible to replicate this in an experiment.

This is done every time an interplanetary spacecraft is launched on a trajectory the uses a planetary gravity assist to change direction and increase velocity. The small mass of the spacecraft is accelerated toward the planet and it's trajectory is altered in a new direction. It's not really an experiment.

I think this was actually a design problem in Gravity Probe B. The spinning niobium spheres were so very sensitive that they picked up the mass of the spacecraft.
The equipment used in testing antigravity myths was sensitive enough to pick it up when the Mythbusters walked around the shop.

quote:

Originally posted by PhysicsPhantatic:
Well, I know that much, but my question was if it were possible to replicate this in an experiment.

They replicated this with an experiment when they tested the firing-a-bullet/dropping-a-bullet myth. The fired a bullet from a gun that was pointed level, and thus slightly away from a very large mass (the earth), and the bullet curved so as to hit that very large mass (the earth).

Physics Phanatic, just so you know: The driving forces in the experiment erikmartin mentioned are 1) gravity and 2) friction (drag). The bullet travelled a straight path through curved space to impact with the Earth. The bullet impacted where it did due to air friction slowing it and gravity causing tha space through which it travels to warp so that the bullet must hit the ground. If not for the drag, it would've gone farther, though the end result would be the same.

Can this pronciple be confirmed through an experiment designed with exactly this in mind? Yes, and this happens on an almost daily basis with satellites, both man-made and natural.