I don’t know why I’m so obsessed with this. I know that rotational gravity is real. I’ve been on a tilt-a-whirl, I just don’t fully understand WHY it works.
Here is a scenario to illustrate what I mean: I am an astronaut inside a “hollow donut” type ship like in 2001. There is no air, we are in space. No relative gravity whatsoever from anything else. I am inside the ship, it is not moving or spinning and I am not close to the hull or anything.
From what I understand if the ship begins to “spin” to induce the artificial gravity effect, I will be affected by it and pushed out toward the outer wall or hull.
Why? What is ACTING on me. I know it might sound like a weird question. I love science and am convinced by it 100% I just feel like I don’t get what exactly is going on.
In: Physics
If you aren’t touching the rotating hull, you won’t start rotating with it (barring eventual air resistance effects), and will not experience the artificial gravity, no. It works because moving objects travel in straight lines on their own. Once you’re rotating with it, your mass wants to continue straight, which would send you through the outer wall of the station. This means you’re constantly crashing into the wall, which pushes back because it is solid, and the result is an apparent gravitational force holding you down against it.
There isn’t any real gravity created here. It only seems that way because curved paths require an inward force to maintain them, and collision with the wall/floor makes sure that happens.
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