Zero Knowledge of Zero Gravity
-
Exactly.
Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows. -- 6079 Smith W.
-
Greetings I learned some time ago from a source I now do not recall the astronauts aboard the Space Station do not experience micro-gravity or zero g in the expected sense In fact it was explained the force of Earth's gravity at that altitude is in fact just under .9 of the surface They are merely falling along w/ the station So it is no different than the "Vomit Comet" It would be nice if the popular press would explain it so Kind Regards - Cheerio My sympathies to the SPAM moderator
According to Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy: There is an art to flying, or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss. ... Clearly, it is this second part, the missing, that presents the difficulties.” —The Guide[src]
-
It isn't. According to General Relativity's Principle of Equivalence, a local acceleration may be treated as a "gravitational" field, and vice versa. No acceleration == no "gravitational" field. (For those that claim that they are not being accelerated while sitting in a chair here on Earth, that is because powerful non-"gravitational" forces are acting in the opposite direction. In General Relavivity, it is not "why things fall" that requires explaining, but why they stop when they hit the ground...)
Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows. -- 6079 Smith W.
You've said this twice
In General Relavivity, it is not "why things fall" that requires explaining, but why they stop when they hit the ground
I agree with you that "gravitation" is just one of many forces and the balancing of forces is what makes the magic of "zero gravity" (no effective forces in a singular direction), but isn't that because F = ma and not because E = mcc? We stop when we hit the ground because the ground has reciprocating force (known as Normal force) against that which strikes - it has momentum which is conserved. Relativity comes into play in the conversion of kinetic energy into heat at the impact, but is it a factor in the fall?
-
Greetings I learned some time ago from a source I now do not recall the astronauts aboard the Space Station do not experience micro-gravity or zero g in the expected sense In fact it was explained the force of Earth's gravity at that altitude is in fact just under .9 of the surface They are merely falling along w/ the station So it is no different than the "Vomit Comet" It would be nice if the popular press would explain it so Kind Regards - Cheerio My sympathies to the SPAM moderator
-
You've said this twice
In General Relavivity, it is not "why things fall" that requires explaining, but why they stop when they hit the ground
I agree with you that "gravitation" is just one of many forces and the balancing of forces is what makes the magic of "zero gravity" (no effective forces in a singular direction), but isn't that because F = ma and not because E = mcc? We stop when we hit the ground because the ground has reciprocating force (known as Normal force) against that which strikes - it has momentum which is conserved. Relativity comes into play in the conversion of kinetic energy into heat at the impact, but is it a factor in the fall?
Were spacetime around mass-bearing objects not warped, all movement would be at constant velocity (speed + direction). It is only the warping of spacetime around mass-bearing objects that causes movement to appear accelerated to us. Note that any object moving freely in warped spacetime does not feel any acceleration effects. This is true whether we perceive it as "falling" (and about to splatter on the ground), whether we perceive it as "in orbit", or whether we perceive it as moving at above "escape velocity". What happens when an object hits the ground is that non-gravitational forces (electrostatic repulsion between atoms) start acting. It is then that the object will perceive acceleration, and part of its energy may be turned into other forms (usually heat).
Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows. -- 6079 Smith W.
-
Were spacetime around mass-bearing objects not warped, all movement would be at constant velocity (speed + direction). It is only the warping of spacetime around mass-bearing objects that causes movement to appear accelerated to us. Note that any object moving freely in warped spacetime does not feel any acceleration effects. This is true whether we perceive it as "falling" (and about to splatter on the ground), whether we perceive it as "in orbit", or whether we perceive it as moving at above "escape velocity". What happens when an object hits the ground is that non-gravitational forces (electrostatic repulsion between atoms) start acting. It is then that the object will perceive acceleration, and part of its energy may be turned into other forms (usually heat).
Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows. -- 6079 Smith W.
> What happens when an object hits the ground is that non-gravitational forces (electrostatic repulsion between atoms) start acting. It is then that the object will perceive acceleration Yes. And since all mechanical and chemical interactions are ultimately due to the Electromagnetic Interaction, that's the only interaction the body can sense. The presence or absence of a Gravitational Field is irrelevant to the sensation of weight. "Weightiness" is entirely due to an unbalanced electrostatic repulsion. (An equal-and-opposite vice-like compression doesn't provide any sense of self-weight or any up-down reference; it doesn't orient the vestibular system.)
-
Greetings I learned some time ago from a source I now do not recall the astronauts aboard the Space Station do not experience micro-gravity or zero g in the expected sense In fact it was explained the force of Earth's gravity at that altitude is in fact just under .9 of the surface They are merely falling along w/ the station So it is no different than the "Vomit Comet" It would be nice if the popular press would explain it so Kind Regards - Cheerio My sympathies to the SPAM moderator
AFAIK, a body is considedered to be in a micro-G situation when the sum of all forces acting on it, except gravitational forces, result in something lower than a certain limit, let's say, 9.8x10-6 m/s2.
-
You are asking the wrong question. From the POV of General Relativity, the question isn't "why things fall", but "what makes them stop when they hit the ground?" A less facetious answer would be that an massive object "warps space-time" around it. The objects in orbit are moving along a path (I.e. both position and velocity) in that "warped space-time" that avoids intersection with the massive object. (If you want a more quantative answer, study Physics to reach the level of confusion enjoyed by most physicists... :) )
Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows. -- 6079 Smith W.
-
It isn't. According to General Relativity's Principle of Equivalence, a local acceleration may be treated as a "gravitational" field, and vice versa. No acceleration == no "gravitational" field. (For those that claim that they are not being accelerated while sitting in a chair here on Earth, that is because powerful non-"gravitational" forces are acting in the opposite direction. In General Relavivity, it is not "why things fall" that requires explaining, but why they stop when they hit the ground...)
Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows. -- 6079 Smith W.
-
Greetings I learned some time ago from a source I now do not recall the astronauts aboard the Space Station do not experience micro-gravity or zero g in the expected sense In fact it was explained the force of Earth's gravity at that altitude is in fact just under .9 of the surface They are merely falling along w/ the station So it is no different than the "Vomit Comet" It would be nice if the popular press would explain it so Kind Regards - Cheerio My sympathies to the SPAM moderator
The main difference between "being in a 0 gravity field" and "orbiting in a station around earth" is that in the 2nd case, you are spinning at the same rotational speed as the station so Coriolis force applies and if you throw an object to a friend in the station, it will not follow a straight line (as the object would do in the first case) but a curve.