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
On a more general level, whether or not you feel acceleration depends on how fast you accelerate. How much acceleration do you feel when you gently press down on the gas pedal to go from 60 to 65 on the highway? Not much at all. You’re only increasing your speed by a small amount over a relatively long time. How much acceleration do you feel when your plane lines up and punches the throttle for takeoff? A fair amount, enough to push you back in your seat a little bit. You’re increasing your speed quite a lot over a comparitively short time.
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