I know that we cannot feel Earth’s motion because we are moving with it (i.e. riding in a car with closed windows analogy) but why can we feel the forces on Earth like earthquakes? If we are moving with Earth, shouldn’t we “move” with earthquakes (as they are movements in the Earth’s crust) and therefore not be able to feel them?
Please don’t guess the answer. Only answer if you actually know what you’re talking about lol. I feel like I answered my own Q in my explanation but I need someone more knowledgeable to articulate it in simple words. Thanks!
In: Physics
I see a few people in this thread saying that we feel acceleration, but that’s not exactly true. Astronauts on the International Space Station are accelerating towards earth at 8.7 m/s^2, but they don’t notice that acceleration at all because the space station is accelerating at the same rate. The “feeling” comes from relative motion.
You can’t feel speed, only acceleration. The Earth does accelerate and decelerate as it travels along its orbit, but the change in velocity is so gradual it’s basically imperceptible (the slowest point in Earth’s orbit is only about 3% slower than its top speed).
We are “attached” to the earth via gravity so we orbit the sun “together”, so we don’t notice it.
During an earthquake the ground physically moves from underneath us in different directions. This is separate from our movement/positioning on earth so we percieve this as a change.
You don’t feel the Earth moving not because you’re moving with it, but because it’s moving at almost constant speed. If the Earth suddenly changed course or changed speed, like in an earthquake, you’d feel it.
We move through space very smoothly; no bumps, accelerations or decelerations. (Well there may be some, but it’s so incredibly tiny we can’t feel it. It’s like how you can’t feel that you’re moving in a very smooth plane or train. You only know your moving when there’s acceleration or you look out the window.
We dont feel movement. We feel acceleration. Earthquakes have a lot of sudden back and forth movement, like a car stopping and starting quickly. The earth on the other hand has very little acceleration. A tiny bit due to its circular path, but that is pretty much negligible. Imagine a car taking a curved path the size of earths orbit.
You don’t feel motion at a constant velocity, but you *do* feel acceleration.
You don’t feel the Earth moving through space because you are moving with it, and you have always been moving with it, and the speed the Earth moves at doesn’t change much.
With an earthquake, on the other, you start of stationary with the ground, and are pushed/accelerated up when the ground moves up from where it used to be. It’s the same reason you feel someone pushing you even if they move with you. Acceleration can be felt.
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