falling using common everyday language is also true only due to gravity. what about an electrically charged object? a balloon rubbed on your hair and held close to the ceiling will fall up towards the ceiling. electrically charged objects do not always fall due to the force of gravity, but due to electric forces. (thank goodness or our electronics would not work and life would not even exist.) as masses fall in gravitational fields, charges or charged objects will fall to a place where they have less total potential energy. magnetic objects will fall in a magnetic field to a place where they have less total potential energy.