If the earth accelerated, would we feel it?

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Im having a hard time understanding why we feel acceleration. If a rogue planet crossed our solar sistem close enough to pull us away from the sun, accelerating us until we are expeled into the cosmos, would we feel this acceleration from the surface of the earth?

In: Physics

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Anonymous 0 Comments

All celestial bodies move in geodesics, or in other words pathways defined by objects with mass. When you move through a geodesic, you feel weightless.

Let’s assume instead of earth, you’re floating in space around the sun. You won’t feel any acceleration. Even if say another body of the mass of the sun came through, you still wouldn’t feel a thing because you’re simply moving through the geodesic, which simply changes on the introduction of the newly introduced body (with same mass as sun)

Let’s bring earth back and you’re standing over it. You’re being continuously accelerated upwards because you are stuck at the surface, unable to move through the geodesic leading up to the center of the earth. So the only influence you’d feel is that of the earth.

You’d not feel any acceleration external to the system of you and the earth, unless earth collides with something.

More info: https://youtu.be/XRr1kaXKBsU?si=oQ5aCzxtzm8S2XZQ

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