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
“a Moving object will continue moving in a straight line unless something makes it change”- A very simplified version of Newton’s first law of motion, but good enough to explain.
When the Spaceship spins, you move with it. Your body wants to continue in a straight line all the time, but the floor of the ship gets in the way, constantly changing your motion from a straight line to a curved one. It’s this change that causes an effect that feels like gravity, causing you to be pressed against the floor as the direction your body wants to go constantly fights with the direction the ship is forcing it to go.
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